Higher, Further, Faster Series
by Miss Grace O'Malley
Summary: Joining the Air Force at sixteen was a hell of a step up in the world from living in bumfuck nowhere Pennsylvania. But she gained a lot more than she lost by leaving it all behind. (Multiple part series, all posted together). Complete!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

* * *

**You Gotta Be: Part I**

_"Listen as your day unfolds, challenge what the future holds._

_Try and keep your head up to the sky."_

_You Gotta Be - Des'ree_

_September 19, 1984 – Independence, Kansas – Military Recruitment Center_

_"License?" The woman scrutinized it, her brows puckered as she looked over the small brunette in front of her again. "And you're sure you're eighteen?"_

_ "I'm pretty sure I know my own birthday, lady."_

* * *

_March 5, 1986 – New Orleans, Louisiana – Military Airbase _

Darcy Lewis was a hell of a pilot and a hell of a distraction for all red-blooded males in the airfield. And she took full advantage of it. Not to mention she could fix her own bird.

"Socket wrench."

Darcy idly handed the doctor the mentioned tool and squinted at the soft blue light peeking from beneath the heavy machinery.

"There's some people I want you to meet," the woman continues, wiping her hand across her face and leaving a thick oil smudge on her cheek. "Some of the best flyers I've ever seen. Besides you, of course."

"That's what I thought."

And damn if that wasn't the truth. Darcy trumped everyone in her class with her skills, leaving them all in her dust. So, when Dr. Wendy Lawson asked her to come aboard a top-secret project that involved mechanics and flying, Darcy had signed every NDA that they threw her way.

It took two years to get through basic and obtain her degree in engineering – she was an overachiever that survived on coffee – and she had no intention of letting all that hard work slip away.

Dr. Lawson was an inspiration to her. An idol. Darcy had never met her mother, but she liked to imagine that she would be like Dr. Lawson. Courageous and strong and so _so_ smart because Darcy definitely didn't get her brains from her alcoholic father. The father that beat her bloody more times than she cared to admit.

"Carol and Maria are great flyers in their own right. Maria's looking to retire and Carol's ready to bridge out to commercial since the military isn't letting women fly combat – "

"Yet," Darcy added, packing away her tools. She had dreams of dogfights and higher flying and, goddammit, she'd get there.

"Right you are, Lou. It'll happen."

She grinned. "C'mon, Goose. Let's get some dinner. Want some chicken?"

The orange cat meowed in response, happily following the brunette back into the hangar.

"I never thought she'd like other people."

"I'm not just other people, doc."

* * *

The day ended when Darcy face planted onto the small cot she had called her bed for the past four months while working with Dr. Lawson.

Louisiana was known for being humid even during the best of weather and that summer was shaping up to be no different. Sweat made her worn band shirt stick to her skin and her curls were plastered to the back of her neck.

It had been pure luck to rent out a shoebox – read _shed_ – in the bayou, seeing as the owners wanted about twenty bucks a month. Who needed air conditioning – or heat – anyway? It was _hers_. She had found it and paid for it and she didn't need people taking care of her anymore.

If Darcy was being completely honest with herself, she knew that she had more to do. Skating by on military pay and pity food from her boss was only bund to get her so far. She had no friends, no transportation other than a beat up Honda bike and she didn't even own a fridge.

But she made it.

She got her wings, her degree, and kick ass job that allowed her to be as free as she wanted.

Almost.

Sighing, she rolled over and punched her pillow a few times to make it comfy before shutting her eyes.

* * *

_April 11, 1986 – New Orleans, Louisiana – Military Airbase _

"Ugh, I love you, doc," Darcy sighed happily as she accepted the large mug filled with coffee. It burnt her throat, but she smacked her lips anyway. "Way to my heart, I swear."

Goose jumped on the counter next to her and nudged her hand, earning a fond smile.

"They're coming down today, the girls I told you about."

"So, I get to take my bird up and show 'em how it's done?"

Dr. Lawson threw her head back and laughed. "They'll be flying in separately and using the west hangar. The Captain wanted to get them adjusted to the base. So," she shrugged, a smile tugging at her mouth. "The higher up don't need to know if you're testing something for me or not."

"Deception," the brunette smiled. "I like it, doc. I like it a whole lot." She pouted for a second. "I'll be the youngest again, huh?"

"Not all of us can be eighteen, Lou."

"I'll have you know I'm – "

"You lied on your enlistment form. Don't worry, you weren't the first soldier and you certainly won't be the last."

She sulked, running her fingers through orange fur. "Yeah, yeah."

"Buck up, buttercup. They might be flyers, but you're the second brain behind all of this." The older woman grabbed her toolbox and waved Darcy out of the little lounge of their hangar. "Lawson and Lewis – saving lives by – "

"Ending wars one at a time."

* * *

"Are you a bottle blond or is that natural?"

Carol glanced over at the small woman holding the comically large tool in her hand. Was she even a pilot? Or just a lab monkey?

"Dunno. Are you just sarcastic or a real bitch?"

Maria groaned beside her. "Please don't mess this up, Danvers. I swear, I will kill you."

The blonde pursed her lips. This was the prime gig – a job with flying that was close to home and allowed Maria to spend time with her daughter uninterrupted. Somehow, she knew Maria was serious and she didn't want to be on the business end of her fury.

"I like you," the girl decided, smirking when the darker woman let out a breath of relief. "You girls any good with science?"

Maria perked up from the small table that Darcy had insisted go in their 'lab'. "I'm a physics major, if that helps."

"Perfect! I'm an engineer and Doc's got all the cool gadgets. We're trying to fit this," she pointed to an odd cube shaped thing. "Into _this_."

"An engine?"

"It would go _really_ fast," Darcy supplied helpfully.

Carol crept over to where the two were huddled over pages upon pages of notes and numbers that looked like complete gibberish.

"What formula are you using? Do you have any protos? But, wait…not all of it goes in there, right? More like harnessing the energy?"

"Exactly! Damn, you're smart. Yes, only harnessing. Otherwise, it would be way too much. My bird is modified – "

"So, you _do_ fly."

They both looked up and Darcy cocked her head. "Duh. Fastest flyer on this side of the states, anyway."

Carol narrowed her eyes. "And you've already graduated?"

"Wings are on my bomber."

"Call sign?"

"Only ever had Ace."

Maria chuckled. "That's a shit call sign. You sure it wasn't Rookie? You're young and if you're as good as you say you are – "

"She's better," Dr. Lawson said as she dropped her own notebook next to the girls. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to meet you earlier. When work calls…" she trailed off and wiped the grease off her hands. An orange cat jumped onto the table before settling in Darcy's lap and purring contently. The doctor sat at the other side of the table and smiled tiredly. "I see you've met my partner Darcy. She's as smart as they come and handy as all hell in a tight spot. Your birds make it in okay?"

"Long flight from Boston. Carol needs hers looked at – "

"Maria – "

"I can look at it. First thing in the morning," Darcy volunteered.

At Carol's look of disbelief, Dr. Lawson spoke up. "Darcy services almost all the planes of the field. She'll fix yours up."

* * *

_May 17, 1986 – New Orleans, Louisiana – Rambeau/Danvers Residence _

Two weeks of working together and Carol had unofficially adopted Darcy as her snarky little sister.

Three weeks had Darcy meeting Maria's daughter, a tenacious two-year-old, names Monica. And, hell, if Darcy wasn't smitten, taking the toddler whenever she was able.

A month? Well, a month had Darcy joining the girls for nightly dinners at their little farmhouse just south of the city. It was like she was a part of a real family.

But every night, she kick started her bike and made the short trek down to the bayou to her own little shed that had been slowly being filled with personal things instead of military basics.

A few messy colored pictures were tacked up on the walls, a couple threadbare shirts that been thrown her way by Carol – who was helplessly unaware that they were _not_ the same size – and even Maria had made sure that she had a warmer blanket for the colder months ahead.

"Are you sure you won't stay?"

Darcy blinked up from the warm cup of cocoa resting between her palms and gave Maria a tired smile. "I'm sure. I've got my own home, y'know."

"That shack doesn't count."

She sighed. "It's a home and it's mine." Her voice quieted, thinking of all the times she had gone without. "I've never had something that was just mine before, and it may be shitty, but it's _mine_." She set down the cup and batted halfheartedly at a lightening bug that was pestering her space.

"Darcy…Monica, Carol, and you mean the world to me. I don't know how you managed to worm your way into my heart, but I'm glad you did. If you aren't going to look after yourself, at least let me do it." With a huff, she sat down next to her on the wooden steps outside the door, slinging her arm over the younger girl's shoulders. "Stop messing with that damn firefly!"

Darcy stopped, her palms cupped around the little bug. "It's a lightening bug."

"You're lightening."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Maria smiled. "New call sign. And it's gonna stick."

"Whatever."

* * *

_May 30, 1986 – New Orleans, Louisiana – Military Airbase _

"Doc? This isn't adding up."

Dr. Lawson looked over her shoulder at the equation. Her lips moved wordlessly as she analyzed before she pointed to a variable. "That should be over there."

Darcy cursed. "Dammit."

"I need your help tomorrow. You and the girls. I've finished the third prototype for PEGASUS."

Blue eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"I'll have you swap the engines out tonight."

* * *

_June 5, 1986 – New Orleans, Louisiana – Military Airbase _

Darcy hadn't really had a friend before, let alone two.

The closest she felt to compassion before meeting Carol and Maria was having Dr. Lawson. Carol would crack jokes with her and stay up until the sun rose while Maria would always be waiting with a shoulder to lean on when she couldn't keep herself together anymore.

Somehow, for Darcy, her family became two pilots that mother henned her within an inch of her life, an overactive two-year-old that called her Lou-Lou, a boss that treated her as an equal, and a cat named Goose that followed her around like a puppy.

It was the oddest thing to love and be loved in return.

"Hey, Lightening! I'm ready to see how well you handle your bird!" Carol's voice echoed from the entrance of the hangar.

Darcy snickered and shook her head. "Not sure you can handle me, Avenger."

The story of how Carol got her call sign wasn't nearly as exciting as Darcy would have thought.

_"She used to be Cheeseburger," Maria admitted with a grin, ignoring the blonde's squawk of indignation. "She _avenged_ a bucket of fries at a fast food joint – "_

_ "They left them for dead!"_

_ "You ate them off the floor," Maria deadpanned. "_All_ of them."_

_ Carol smiled, popping a fry into her mouth and then pointed to her chest. "Avenger."_

"Stop your yappin' and let's get these birds in the air!" Maria yelled, grabbing their attention. "Doc really wants this funding to go through, so we're flying for practicality, _not_ fun. Hey – are you guys even listening? This is a big deal!"

Carol rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, we heard you, Photon. Get the birds in the air and fly nice and commercial."

"I don't know about you, but California sounds _real_ nice. Especially with the cold creeping up on us."

If the prototypes were successful – and the government actually took notice – they were be relocating to sunny California. With beaches for days and Disneyland and blue, open sky –

"It's a desert, Lou. Don't get too romanticized by the idea just yet."

Darcy sighed, tying her hair up with an elastic as she glanced over at Dr. Lawson. "But it's better than a swamp."

"You _choose_ to live in the bayou. There's a perfectly good house with an _empty_ room that's waiting for you," Maria inserted. With a harsh tug, her jumpsuit zipped the few final inches and she glanced behind her as she made her way out of the hangar. "Birds are in the field, girls. Let's get a move on."

Carol grinned. "Higher, further – "

"Faster, baby!"

* * *

_July 2, 1987 – Mojave Desert – Undisclosed Location_

"Why is it so hot?" Darcy whined, laying her cheek down on the metal table in front of her, wishing it would be anything but warm.

California was beautiful – what she had seen before being whisked away to another lab with more security than Fort Knox – but she was really tired of the same desert landscape with the same desert lizards and the same dry heat that made her curls plaster themselves to her skull. Carol and Maria felt the same way, but the flying made everything worth it.

They were able to fly in a way that they weren't back home. The desert was an endless runway and, as long as they didn't create _too_ much of a distraction, they could fly and race until their hearts were content.

Two weeks had been enough for the trio to rent a little house outside of Los Angeles that was close enough to a bar that they could drink and play pool – and sing off-key karaoke – without feeling bad about walking home. No designated driver, no car. Or bike, in Darcy's case.

"Because we're closer to hell," Carol answered, slumped beside her. "We are _so_ going to Pancho's tonight. I bet I can whoop your ass at pool."

"I can still drink you under the table, Danvers. You better watch it."

Maria looked up from her equations and furrowed her brows. "You have an unhealthy relationship with tequila, my friend."

"Eh, you say unhealthy, I say practiced."

"No one should be able to put away that much alcohol, let alone _tequila_. Have you looked in the mirror? You're tiny! Where does it go?"

Carol snickered. "Maybe that's why her tits are so big."

"Carol!"

Darcy giggled. "It's a possibility. It's a hell of a hiding spot for a flask, though."

"Suit up." Maria stood and shuffled the papers in her hands. Eying them critically, she bit her lower lip. "I'll sit this one out. I need some on-the-ground observations. Doc should have a few new protos soon, too. So, let's break in the ones we have for now."

Darcy didn't bother with a jumpsuit; instead deciding to tuck her well-worn t-shirt into her denim cut offs and grab her glasses from her duffel. A quick glance at her shoes proved that they were tied and she made her way out of the lab and into the hangar. "Let's go, Goose!" She called over her shoulder, smirking when she heard the pitter patter of little paws behind her.

Anytime she dared leave the cat behind, she would give her the evil eye until the next time she went up in the air. Better to take the damn cat up then deal with untied shoelaces.

"You sure that cat's not yours? I know Doc says its hers, but – "

The brunette scooped Goose up in her arms and shot Carol a grin. "Might as well be. She's been following me since Doc offered me a job."

"Enough talk – let's go!"

* * *

Maria watched the two planes fly circles around each other, each one pulling back just enough to keep nose to nose. She hated to admit it – and never would in front of Carol – but Darcy was quite possibly the best pilot she had ever seen, inside and outside of the academy. She out flew the guys on base with every drill they ran and managed to have them all panting after her. And, much to her dismay, following the trio to the bar on nights they had off.

She made notes as she watched each of the engines, carefully eyeing how fast they accelerated and how long they could keep the acceleration up for.

Grabbing the radio, she asked, "Lightening, speed up and do a lap around Avenger. See if she can keep up. Over."

"_You got it, Photon. Accelerating in ten. Over._"

Darcy easily did three laps around Carol before the latter's plane managed to get to the same altitude, but there was definitely a struggle that Maria noted easily.

"Avenger, pull forward. Go west and then ease back."

"_Roger_."

Darcy soared north and the planes flew away from each other before she lapped back and swooped underneath Carol. _Upside down._

Maria sighed. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

_July 22, 1986 – Near the Mojave Desert, California – Pancho's Bar_

"Taco Tuesday!" Carol crowed as she pushed open the worn bar door and shuffled inside.

"More like Tequila Tuesday," Darcy added as she shoved her aviators on top of her head, trapping the curls that kept threatening to break free.

Maria smirked, slipping her pager in her pants pocket. "I only have the sitter for a few hours. So, taco and tequila me!"

Tacos were ordered and shots consumed as Darcy managed to coerce the bartender into allowing an impromptu karaoke night, making the other girls groan.

"I did not agree to embarrassing myself," Maria said, downing one of the shots laid out in front of her. "It's packed for a Tuesday. Why did I agree to this?"

"Because you looooove me," Darcy sang, queuing up the music. "And Carol would never let you sit it out. Besides, we only have a few hours before you turn into a pumpkin!"

The dark-skinned woman glared. "I think you mean parent, but I'll let it slide."

Darcy sat at the bar and watched as her friends sang – very loudly and _very _off-key – but it was a new normal that she was happy to be a part of.

Normal.

It had been a long time coming, but she finally was able to admit to herself that that was what this was. Working, going out, having fun. A stable life that kept her grounded when she wasn't in the sky. Often she wondered if that was what she was missing in Kansas. She was only sixteen when she had forged her ID and enlisted just so she could get away from the horrors that awaited her at home, and, damn it all, she never even looked back.

Her reality was finally more than her dreams.

"Need another?"

The brunette blinked away her thoughts and turned her head to meet a fidgety looking man that was a little too close. Brown hair was a little too long and his blue eyes much too calculated for sitting in a dimly lit bar.

"M'name's Jimmy."

Darcy squinted at him. "I haven't seen you here before."

"Needed a new place."

"Get kicked out of your old one?"

He looked down, smothering a grin. "Just didn't like the birds there, is all."

"Well," she said, downing her shot and giving him a once over. "The only birds I care about are the ones I can get into the sky. You military? Don't think I didn't notice that sweet prosthetic. Metal, huh? Plastic ones are a little overdone, anyway."

He seemed to shutter in on himself, seemingly worried about something. He mumbled quietly, nothing she could pick up before he asked. "You fly?"

"Better than the best, dude."

"_Come on, pretty baby, kiss me deadly!_"

Darcy looked up at her girls making fools of themselves and smirked. "You fly?"

"No." It was short and assertive and she backed off a little before he stumbled out, "More of a field guy, myself."

"Army?"

"Yeah."

She pondered. It wasn't every day that an army guy ended up around the base that _wasn't_ supposed to be there. Especially when they were good looking with no sign of attachment. That she could see, anyway.

"Never really liked the army. I went through basic before branching out to air force, but it was tough – "

"You work on the base near here?"

Red flag. Why was he asking her about that? Only secure personnel were supposed to know –

"I'm headin' up there for security. Guess you guys need some more muscle."

"Yeah, I guess so." She visibly deflated, taking a breath of relief. A smile overtook her lips and she flirted. "Maybe I'll see you around, Jimmy."

"You never told me your name."

"It's Darcy."

He swallowed and smiled, showing off his straight, white teeth. "Nice to meet you, Darcy."

* * *

_August 15, 1987 – Mojave Desert – Undisclosed Location_

"Can you _please_ stop staring at his butt?"

Darcy looked away from where Jimmy was walking out of the lab and managed to close her mouth from where her jaw had dropped open. How embarrassing.

"It's a nice butt," Carol added, winking when Darcy blushed. Only when Maria gave her look did she relent. "He's not my type, though. I prefer them with blond hair and muscles and – "

Darcy smacked her head against the metal table and sighed. Jimmy had been coming around a lot more, bringing her coffee and, occasionally, flowers. It was sweet, really, and the girls loved to tease her about it.

_"Oh, Darcy-Lou! Your boy toy left you a dozen daisies! And half a cup of coffee!"_

_ Darcy peeked out from underneath her bird, a scowl on her face. "Half a cup? Are you sure that you didn't _drink_ the other half?"_

_ "I plead the fifth."_

_ "Dammit. Give me my coffee, woman!"_

"Doc wants us in the air in ten. You up for it, Lightening?"

She glared at Maria. "When am I even _not_ up for it, Photon?" Sighing, she picked herself up and mentally shook herself. "I rewired all the engines last night, anyway. They should be good to go."

"We'll make sure you get back on the ground, Lou. We know you have a date with Jimmy and his butt."

"Carol!"

Darcy sighed dreamily. "It _is_ a nice butt."

"How about you both gets _your_ butts in the air, huh? Chop, chop!"

* * *

"Wow," Darcy breathed, looking her date up and down in appreciation. He was wearing a pair of jeans that really did things for her and a plaid button down that hugged his chest in a way that she wanted to. He was…something out of her old romance books that she used to read, really. "You clean up nice."

Jimmy grinned and tugged the end of her braid playfully. "Could say the same for you, doll. Look at ya." He made a spinning motion with his finger and she dutifully complied, spinning in place so the jacket she was wearing flared out a bit. "Pretty as a picture."

"In combat boots and an old jacket."

"Semantics," he grinned, slinging his arm – the flesh one – over her shoulders. "I didn't really have anything planned, y'know. Thought we could – "

"Walk around base and eat the dinner you set up in the hangar?"

He ducked his head. "Can't keep a damned thing from you, can I?"

"I'm smart like that."

"Too smart," he agreed, pressing a kiss to her temple. "C'mon, it's gonna get cold if we wait any longer."

Darcy hesitated. "You…covered it, right? Goose _really_ likes chicken."

"Dammit."

He, indeed, did _not_ cover the dinner.

And Goose had a tummy full of human food.

* * *

_November 3, 1987 – Mojave Desert – Military Personnel Barracks_

Darcy had been having a nice dream. A dream where she was flying higher than she had ever flown before. The wind whipping through her curls and the largest smile painted across her face.

Until suddenly she was yanked out of the dream with a metal bar forced against her windpipe and a heavy body straddling her midsection.

She blinked up in the darkness, trying hard to remember where she was.

"Jimmy," she rasped, seeing the outside light glint off of his blue eyes. "Jimmy, it's me. It's Darcy – _Lou_. C'mon, babe, snap out of it."

He blinked down at her before he threw himself across the little room that he called his own. He was breathing hard through his nose as his hands held his head. Rocking back and forth, he muttered to himself, much like the first night she met him.

Moving slowly, and always remaining in his line of sight, Darcy made her way to him, slipping to her knees to be the same level as him.

"Babe? It's okay. It's November third of 1987. You're at a military base in California. Okay? You're safe. No one's gonna hurt you."

He whined pitifully, tugging at the ends of his hair. "Hurt you, hurt you, hurt you…" he kept mumbling.

"No, Jimmy, you didn't hurt me. I'm okay, see?" She guided his hand to her face and held it there. "I'm okay."

"They're gonna make me hurt you," he whispered, drawing his thumb along her delicate cheek bone. "I don't want to. I…I love you."

Her heart stuttered and she gave him a shaky smile. "No one's going to make you do anything, I promise. C'mon. Let's get back into bed, okay? And no funny business."

* * *

_November 4, 1987 – Mojave Desert – Undisclosed Location_

The morning had been hard. Jimmy was gone when she finally woke up and she had rolled onto her side, hoping to absorb any of the warmth he had left behind, but it was clear he had been gone for a while. So, she managed to rouse herself from his less than comfy bed and wiggle into last night's clothes that were not nearly as clean as the day before.

Coffee was scrounged up before she braved leaving his room, catching the glances of a few personnel that _knew_ she was banging him, but they couldn't be more wrong.

Jimmy had a real bad case of PTSD, hence the night before, and they had only managed to talk about it once. However, last night was just the most recent event to grace the four walls of his room. He had managed to flip Darcy off the bed multiple times, hold a gun under her jaw, and, well, knives were strictly off limits now, as well. Same as any sort of intimate relations.

But she didn't blame him. It was a diagnosis, a reason for why he did what he did. And she wasn't going to kick him to the curb because of it. Hell, she _loved_ him, too. Not that she had the guts to say it, even when he had. The mere thought that he would remember was not something she would entertain.

_"Darce, are you okay? Oh, hell, I didn't – I mean – I can't – "_

_ "It's okay," she managed to get out once the shock wore off. It was their first night sharing the same bed and he had hesitantly agreed, wanting to keep her safe. But she was stubborn. "I'm fine. See? I'm okay." She rubbed her hand down his back when he seemed to relax. "You got a bad case of PTSD, don't you?"_

_ "Shell shock," he corrected her gruffly. "Nothin' I can't handle."_

_ "It's called PTSD. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. There's a diagnosis and everything." She paused and kissed his arm gently. "It's okay to not be okay."_

"Morning, Lou," Dr. Lawson greeted her as she walked into their lab. "I've got Goose sorting through your notes. So far, she's shredded the ones she didn't like."

Darcy snorted. "Damn cat."

"She's smarter than your average cat."

"You don't need to tell me," the brunette said. Hefting the cat into her arms, she moved her to the chair and sorted through the papers that the cat had nominated to keep. "Seems like she's on the nose."

There was silence before the doctor spoke up. "You may want to wear your hair down today." She gestured at her neck when Darcy looked up. "I know what soldiers are like after they've seen combat, but the girls might not be so understanding."

* * *

_November 7, 1987 – Mojave Desert – Undisclosed Location_

As usual, it took Jimmy a couple days to reconnect himself after an episode and she tried not to take it so personally. She didn't have PTSD, but she had seen enough soldiers return from tours to know that his case was more than severe. Everyone had their dark days, but it was like he was living in them.

"Jimmy?" She timidly knocked on his door, precariously balancing two coffees in her hands. The door swung open and she gasped at what she saw. "Oh, babe. C'mere."

He moved out of her reach and invited her inside. As soon as she set the coffee down, she wrapped her arms around his middle and tried to push the tears back. He looked _rough_. His hair was dirty and tangled, his beard scruffy. Dark rings hung under his eyes and she just knew that he hadn't slept since the incident.

"Let's get you in the shower, okay? I'll help with your face, too."

He didn't give her a verbal reply, but he began unbuttoning his pants and she took that as a green light. Slipping into the small bathroom, she turned on the water and adjusted the temperature before laying out a clean towel he had tucked underneath the sink.

"I think it's warm enough – _oh_."

She was definitely not expecting to turn around and see her boyfriend completely nude. And, Jesus Christ, he was built like a goddamn Adonis. His fucking muscles had muscles! And the accidental glance she made south? Her thighs ached just thinking about it.

"I'm…I'm just…gonna wait…out there," she managed to squeak out as she fled.

Once her ass was firmly planted on his bed, she let out a shaky breath. Nude men were not her forte. Christ, she was still a virgin. And what he was packing was a little more intimidating from what she had studied in health class.

Somewhere, Carol was laughing at her, she was sure of it.

When he came out with his hair dripping and the towel tied around his waist, she had hoped that her jaw hadn't fallen open, but the audible clack of her teeth when she shut it made her realize it was a false hope. He handed her a razor and shaving cream before sitting next to her.

"Are you sure you want me to – "

"I trust you." It was merely a whisper, but it sounded like a gunshot in the room. Her chest felt tight as she nodded.

Carefully, she spread the shaving cream onto his jaw, making sure he was covered liberally before she took a deep breath and brought the blade to his skin. She dragged it upwards, over his jaw, and higher before cleaning the blade and starting all over again. When she was finished, she wiped his face clean and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

"Lou…" It took him only a couple seconds to wrap his fingers around her waist and pull her back against him, kissing the daylights out of her as the towel and razor fell to the ground. Pulling back, he rested his forehead against hers and sighed, "I love you, baby. I…I don't want them to take you away from me."

"Who's gonna take me? I'm not letting it happen." She shook her head and smiled shyly. "I…I love you, too."

A tear fell and he held her tighter. It was the sanest he felt in nearly fifty years.

* * *

_December 16, 1987 – Mojave Desert – Undisclosed Location _

A blue, glowing phial sat on the metal table of the lab. Darcy had no idea what it was, but Goose was making her nervous from walking right next to it. Repeatedly.

"I swear, if you knock that over, I'm going to skin you alive."

Goose merely looked at her and swished her tail, knocking it over completely.

The brunette dove for it, somehow knowing that it was important. But it slipped through her fingers and shattered on the cement floor.

"Dammit!" She groaned, scooping up the pieces and cursing when she managed to cut herself on the jagged edge.

The world went a little fuzzy after that.

"Goose?"

The responding meow turned into something long and drawn out and her eyes were so tired now.

"Get…Doc…"

* * *

**Be sure to leave a review!**

**~Grace**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

**You Gotta Be: Part II**

_"Stand up and be counted,_

_Don't be afraid to cry."_

_You Gotta Be – Des'ree_

_January 21, 1988 – Mojave Desert – Undisclosed Location_

She couldn't open her eyes.

Her limbs felt heavy and she struggled to truly hear what was happening around her instead of just the noise. Words weren't making sense and, damn if her nose didn't itch.

"Lou? You with me, girl?"

Darcy knew that voice. She _trusted_ that voice.

"Can you open your eyes for me?"

It seemed impossible. It was like they were glues together. Something soft rubbed against her hand and her fingers flexed to greet it out of reflex.

"Shoo, Goose."

Her eyes opened blearily. "What happened?" She slurred, her voice raspy. "Am I alive?"

There was a low chuckle before Dr. Lawson said, "I wouldn't let you die. But you're an idiot, though. You know better than to mess with the core – "

"Goose knocked it over." She tried to sit up, huffing a little when she finally managed it. "Am I radioactive, now? Do I glow in the dark?"

"Not quite. More agile, if anything and a little more resilient. Less likely to cut yourself open and bleed to death. I didn't find any adverse effects." She moved around the table and flipped through a file, pulling a sheet out and handing it to the brunette. "Top is normal blood results, bottom is yours. There's a lot of…differences, but nothing threatening that I can tell." Dr. Lawson shrugged. "I'm not a medical doctor, though."

She scratched her head. She didn't remember much of what happened, but obviously it was bad enough to render her unconscious. "Should I go to the doctor?"

"Not unless you want to be a guinea pig for the rest of your life. They'll want to find out why you are like you are."

A groan was followed by a thump as she rolled off of the table and hit the floor. "Can my life stop complicating itself, please?"

"I don't make the rules, Lou," Dr. Lawson smiled gently. "My job is taking care of you and Goose. And making sure the world doesn't end."

"You're doing a bang up job, Doc. I real bang up job."

* * *

_January 22, 1988 – Mojave Desert – Undisclosed Location_

"Christ, you're okay."

Darcy floundered as Jimmy pulled her close and attempted to squeeze the air from her lungs.

"It's been a month! Where were you? Lawson said you were testing – "

"Lots of tests, babe." She hugged him back when she was able to. A month? She lost a month because of that damned cat. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you sooner. I've been so busy – "

Her words were cut off when he crashed his lips against hers aggressively before pulling back and pressing his forehead against hers. "Don't leave me again, okay? I can't…I can't do this without you."

"I know," she whispered. It hadn't been her choice. She didn't want to leave him. Hurting him wasn't something that she could fathom.

"Marry me," he blurted, his own eyes widening in surprise the second his lips stopped moving.

Darcy pulled away and looked at him, _really_ looked at him. They hadn't even slept together yet! How did he know he wanted to marry her?

"I'm sure," he said, reading the worry in her eyes. He tugged at the ends of his hair nervously before he straightened. "I want…I want to call you my wife."

"Jimmy – "

"_James_."

"James?"

"It's m' Catholic name. The one that matters."

"I'm Jewish," she deadpanned even though her father had forced her to attend a Christian church every Sunday.

"So? Do I need to convert or somethin'? 'Cause I will. I'll do whatever it takes to keep you by my side for the rest of our lives."

Darcy thought about it. Marriage was a big step. A step she wasn't sure that she was ready to take. What if something happened to her? What if…next time was the _last_ time?

"It doesn't have to be now," Jimmy rushed to add. Her hand felt small between his large ones and his blue eyes were so focused on her. "It'll be like a promise. So, when we're out and on our own, we'll still have each other." He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close. "I want a life with you. A home, a few kids. I want it all – "

"Yes."

"What?"

She smiled. "Yes, I'll marry you – _oh_!"

He picked Darcy up and swung her around like she didn't weigh a thing. "I love you so much, baby."

"I love you, too, James."

* * *

_February 26, 1988 – Near Los Angeles, California – Pancho's Bar _

"I really needed this."

Going out to Pancho's after a week of hard work was well deserved in Darcy's opinion. Dr. Lawson had kept her whereabouts a secret while she recovered from the 'incident' and Darcy had spent that last month getting back into the groove of everything.

And she had really missed her girls.

"You've been wound tight lately," Maria observed, sliding her a shot. "Don't think we haven't noticed."

"It's because Jimmy finally popped the question." Carol smirked when the brunette squawked and dropped the shot glass, her grin widened. "Damn, I'm good. Where's the ring?"

They hadn't been able to afford one yet. And Jimmy hadn't wanted to settle for anything less than the best.

Maria smiled softly. "Leave her alone, Carol. She's still got a couple years left. They'll figure it out then, right?"

"That or I'll get tired of him."

They drank well into the night and sang horrible karaoke that left the rest of the bar in stitches. For once, Darcy's head was free and clear of everything that wasn't important in that particular moment.

The alcohol and good company left her feeling more alive than she had in a long time. Longer than she cared to admit, anyway.

That night, when she managed to crawl into bed with Jimmy, her heart was lighter and she was more than content.

* * *

_March 4, 1988 – Mojave Desert – Undisclosed Location_

Jimmy had been gone for a week.

It wouldn't have been so worrying if his room weren't exactly the way he had left it. Nothing was out of place, no clothes packed. It was like he was just _gone_.

And when he came back, he wasn't the same.

She had let herself into his room as she had done every night that week and stopped dead at seeing him sitting on his bed with his head in his hands.

"Jimmy?"

His head snapped up so fast it would have been comical if he didn't look so terrifying.

Dark circles hung beneath his eyes and it was like he didn't even know her. No recognition, no smile. It was as if he was staring at a stranger.

"Jimmy?" She asked again, a little stronger.

He jerked his head to the side. "That's not m' name."

"James?" She tried.

His head whipped back and forth, his lips moving, but no sound coming out. No sound _she_ could hear, anyway.

Deciding to go another route, Darcy sank to her knees in front of him, ever careful not to touch. "Do you remember me?"

Jimmy tugged on the ends of his hair, grey eyes darting back and forth. "Mine."

"That's right. I'm yours," she nodded enthusiastically. She knew better than to reach out to him, but it didn't stop her from wanting to. "My name's Darcy and your is James. We met as a bar. We're gonna get married, remember?"

The shaking came first. Then the tears and her heart absolutely broke.

"Take you…take you…"

"No one's taking me anywhere, okay? It's you and me."

She cringed when his arms lashed out and grabbed her, holding her impossibly tight.

"It's all my fault…"

Choosing to ignore what he was saying, she eased him back onto the bed and curled up around him. From her lips fell a Hebrew lullaby as he gradually stopped shaking and his breath evened out.

By the next morning, it was as if it never happened.

* * *

_April 7, 1988 – Mojave Desert – Undisclosed Location_

"Higher – " Carol started.

"Further – " Maria continued.

"Faster, baby!" Darcy wailed as her bird soared well past her counterparts and raced upwards, leaving them in the dust. Her radio crackled with their laughter and she couldn't help but join in as they eventually flanked her.

"_C'mon, Lou. I need to see what the modifications you did to your bird can actually do. You used my equation, didn't you?_" Dr. Lawson's voice said.

Darcy flipped a switch and the plane flew higher, the glass to her right tinkling as a crack spider-ed its way down. "Looks like we might need to replace the glass on this thing. It's not suited for high altitudes."

Maria's voice became worried. "_Get lower if there's a problem, Lightning. We can go back up, later – _"

The brunette barely glanced at the crack as she flipped another switch on her controls, dipping down before gaining height again. "Cruising at forty-thousand, Doc. I'll take it up another ten."

"_Lou_ – "

Her bird climbed the next ten-thousand feet easily, the crack staying the same. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Engaging core now, I'm gonna bring her up another ten-thousand and drop back down."

"_We copy you, Lightning. Standing by at thirty-thousand,_" Carol's voice crackled.

"Roger, Avenger."

The small blue button on her controls looked ominous as she pressed it. The plane shuttered and stuttered beneath her before the sky around her passed in a blur and she was much further than she intended. There was a harsh _crack_ right next to her ear as the plane bottomed out.

Her goggles stuck to her face as cold air hit her cheek, the oxygen not nearly what she was used to.

"_Bail out! Bail out, now!_" Carol's voice yelled.

Darcy could hardly hear it over the air whipping into the plane, but she couldn't leave it. She couldn't bail out when it had gotten her so far.

Gritting her teeth, she grunted, "Nosedive in five. Heading down hard and fast."

Dr. Lawson's voice chanted, "_Keep it steady, Lou. If you need to pull, do it close to the ground_."

The plane plummeted towards the ground. A chunk of glass broke free from the shield and sliced across her cheek causing her to cry out.

"_Lightning! Pull up!_"

She had to be a mere twenty-thousand feet from the ground. Her plane would survive it she bailed, but she needed to get lower. Five-thousand more feet passed before she pulled up, her wings shaking hard.

To slow the plane down, she did laps around the base until she was able to land safely outside their hangar where the girls had already landed and were rushing to her.

The hatch opened and there were hands undoing her belts as a voice scolded her.

"What the _hell_ were you thinking? Is that _blood_? Carol, get Doc, she needs stitches. Darcy, can you hear me?" Maria rambled off, taking off the brunette's helmet and patting her face gently. "C'mon, sweetheart."

"Jimmy's heading here now, he saw the whole thing." Carol sighed before yelling, "Doc!"

She barely understood what they were saying. She was elated. It had worked!

"Oh, Lou, what were you thinking?"

Darcy turned her head towards her mentor with the biggest smile on her face. "It worked! As soon as I engaged the core, it was like, it was like _zoom_! I ended up way higher than I meant to. I need to – damn, I need to make this thing like space-ready! If we can get that high and – "

"Darcy!"

The girls cleared away at the sound of Jimmy's voice, allowing him to pluck her from the plane and throw her over his shoulder to carry her back to the hangar-lab.

"No! I've got to fix my window! And write everything down! Put me down, you Neanderthal!"

Her protesting wails faded as she was carried away and Carol and Maria shared a look.

"Money's on tonight, Photon."

Maria rolled her eyes. "I'm telling you, they've already – well, _y'know_."

Dr. Lawson smiled as she wrote a few things down in her notebook. "I wouldn't bet on that, Maria. She's young and…much more innocent than either of you realize."

The blonde's mouth opened and closed a few times before she let out a strangled noise. "Not even! She can't – oh my gosh, can she?"

Dr. Lawson chuckled as she left them, leaving them to their own devices.

"Man, I owe you twenty bucks now."

"Pay up, Photon."

* * *

Darcy's back hit the bed and as soon as breath flooded her lungs, Jimmy was on top of her. His hands easily manipulated the zippers and buttons on her suit and threw it away from them.

"Jimmy – "

"You almost died." His voice cracked. Dry lips were pressed against her collarbone and down her breasts while he worked at unclipping her bra. He wanted her bare beneath him. "We talked about this, remember? I told you that I couldn't do this without you. That means you can't do anything stupid."

Darcy's giggle was caught in her throat when his rough fingers dipped into her panties, his hand cupping her mound. "How c-can I be stupid when you're here? I'll the stupid's with you, babe."

"What did you say?" He asked hoarsely. His eyes were a bit bluer and certainly wider than she was used to.

"Just kiss me, stupid."

Let it never be said that he didn't follow orders.

Jimmy devoured her mouth as his fingers took her apart. He had her panting and mewling beneath him through not one but _two_ orgasms that had her thighs shaking uncontrollably. A hickey made its way onto the swell of her right breast the moment that his jeans were shuffled down below his ass.

"You sure about this, baby?" He rasped, meeting her dazed gaze. Swollen lips, pupils blown wide. She was a scene that he wanted to be stuck in for the rest of his days.

Darcy blinked up and him. "Of course I'm sure," she whispered. "Be gentle with me, okay? I've never…I've never done this before."

"You won't regret it," he promised. "Do I need a rubber or…"

"I'm on the pill." Thank goodness for _that_.

She could feel him nudging at her small opening before he reached down and slicked his member up with wetness he'd created only moments before. There was an unbelievable fullness followed by a sharp pinch and her eyes watered.

"Shhh, it's okay, baby."

Her skin was so warm and it felt nearly two sizes too small. Her face burrowed against the metal of his left arm as he slowly worked himself out of her just to thrust back inside her wet heat. "Oh, lord."

"That feel good?" At her nod, he picked up speed just enough that her mouth gaped open and little sounds of pleasure tumbled out. His lips sought the special spot beneath her ear and he whispered things she couldn't make out as he forced her higher and higher.

Colors exploded behind her eyelids as her pleasure crested, leaving her a puddle of girl beneath him. "_James_," she whimpered out, too exhausted to say anything else.

"I love you," he murmured as he met his own end, his seed rushing into her as he caught himself from squishing her by his forearms.

Darcy was a little out of it as he flipped them, leaving his cock nestled inside her warmth as they both managed to drift off.

* * *

_June 29, 1988 – Mojave Desert – Undisclosed Location_

"I'm heading up."

"_Lightning, don't do anything stupid. You're only supposed to go up to sixty-five thousand._"

Darcy mumbled to herself as she lifted her bird off the ground. She could barely make out Jimmy and Dr. Lawson sitting next to the hangar, the latter having a notebook in her hands.

It had taken nearly a week to get her plane functioning at high capacity again – and that included making it space-ready. The glass of her windows had been custom-made not-glass and had been installed by herself. Her engine was hopped up on nearly three different strains of the core unbeknownst to Dr. Lawson, but she thought the little white lie was worth it to press her luck.

If it worked, it would push the project into the more realistic category instead of it just being a pipedream. And maybe, just maybe, the government would give PEGASUS just a little more funding.

Her bird was expensive, after all.

_"You come back, all right? I'll have a front row seat this time."_

_ She threw back her head and laughed before kissing him square on the mouth. "You know I'll always come back. It might take me awhile, but I will."_

_ Jimmy pressed his forehead against hers and smiled softly. "Don't make me come up after you, Lightning."_

_ "Not even on your best day, Soldier."_

She shook her head and rubbed her lips together. It was show time.

Getting to forty-thousand feet was easy this time around and the next ten-thousand feet followed. The plane drifted at the fifty-thousand mark before she glanced at the blue button.

"Engaging core now," she relayed through the radio.

"_Standing by, Lightning._"

With a deep breath, she pressed the button at the same time she pulled the controls up. It was the same as before; the sky whizzed around her and her stomach felt like it had dropped down to her knees as her plane was a blur in the air.

"_You're leaving the airspace, Lightning! Pull down, now!_" Maria's voice urged her.

"Cruising at seventy-thousand feet. Engaging second core protocol now."

"_Lou, what did you do?_"

Ignoring the doctor's voice, she pressed the blue button again and flew higher with more speed than she had before. Her gauges were spinning in circles, but no emergency lights were blinking and she set her jaw as she lapped a small circle.

"Maintaining altitude of eighty-five-thousand. Engaging final core protocol in ten seconds."

Her controls shook as the radio crackled, but no sound came out. She must've been too high up for a clear connection. Thankfully, her black box would record whatever she said so they could examine it later.

"Five, four, three, two…_one_."

Her bird soared too high, too fast. Her right wing groaned as she pulled to the left and up. She had no choice but to fall into a barrel roll and, when she did, the plane shot up and she whooped in excitement.

"Whooo!"

The little blue planet was below her. She couldn't make out anything but the vastness that was so beautifully her home.

"Maximum altitude achieved," she yammered, needing to record it. "One-hundred-thousand feet. Core reaction is level and can now be tested higher than before. Maximum speed of four-hundred and five knots. Doing three laps and heading down using core decompression to achieve lightspeed."

Darcy had been mentally preparing for the descent, but it was nothing compared to how high she was up now. Going up was always easy, but going down…going down was going to be hell.

Before she had left, she had added one additional core harness to her engine that would make her plan descend fast. Faster than it was intended.

"All right," she told herself. "Let's get this bird back on the ground."

One more loop was done before she forced the controls down with as much strength as she could muster. Her plane groaned for a moment before it nosedived.

The black of the airspace was replaced by familiar blue as she regained airspace. Land slowly made sense again as she could make out the lay of the land.

"_Lightning! Is that you?_"

Darcy smirked at the awe in Carol's voice. "Heading down, Avenger. I'm not pulling up until I absolutely have to."

There was a sound like a gunshot as her plane continued to zoom downwards. Her plane had topped out at six-hundred and eighty knots and her heart dropped.

"_Holy shit! You broke the sound barrier!_"

"_You watch your language, Avenger!_"

Her laughter filled the plane and she hollered happily. "It works!"

* * *

_December 5, 1988 – Mojave Desert – Undisclosed Location_

There had been a total of twelve test runs that convinced Dr. Lawson that Darcy had successfully harnessed the power of the core and applied it to flight science. Over the next few months, the pair had been in and out of the hangar, experimenting with creating the perfect engine.

The military – and the government – finally realized the importance of Project PEGASUS and they had gotten a substantial raise in funding, allowing Darcy to properly build a plane as well as modify her own so they had two of everything.

_"You know it's a waste of money, right?" Dr. Lawson clicked her tongue as she watched Darcy put the finishing touches on two identical engine pieces._

_ The brunette sighed. "Think about it. If we have two, then we have the ability to conduct as many experiments as we want. If one goes wonky, we know what _not_ to do, right? We're covering our own asses. We'll always have a back up plan and a back up bird."_

It had come in handy multiple times, especially when a wire was crossed in rebuilding or too much of the core was imbedded in the engine. Darcy was always sure to make her plane just a little stronger than the other; she couldn't have anyone out flying her, after all.

Carol and Maria were ecstatic. The brunette had amped up their planes as well – for testing purposes – and it was easily seen that the core could be incorporated into nearly any plane. They ran laps for her while she observed from the ground, watching where they pulled, where they bottomed out, where they flew further than intended. The core wasn't an exact science, but hell if Darcy wasn't going to try to figure it out, anyway.

"You live here, now?"

Darcy looked up from her notebook and smiled at Jimmy leaning in the doorway of the lab. "I'm almost done here. I'm just working on a few equations." She pointed to the paper and looked away as he always did.

"You know that stuff makes my brain hurt. Better to not have it all up there," he tapped his temple with a nervous smile. "Carol came by and said she needed my help prying you out of here."

She whined, "But I need to finish this. Do you know how close we are? We could have everything in the air in six months. Six _months_! That means – "

"I know what it means, baby. Trust me, the faster this is all figured out, the faster I can get you all to myself."

"Is that what you're waiting for?" Her voice had turned indignant and Jimmy was sure that he had put his foot in his mouth. "For this to all be over? So you can hide me away and – "

"No, baby, stop. That's not what I meant. Christ, I used to be good with dames," he mumbled mostly to himself. "I _meant_ that we can finally get married. I bought you a ring, I want you to be able to start wearin' it. Don't think I haven't noticed those pilots from B block loitering around waitin' to talk t' you."

Darcy's cheeks burned red in embarrassment. "I don't talk to them, you know that."

"I know," he nodded. "I also know that Carol treats 'em like scum when they get too close." He whistled low. "Girl after my own heart."

"Oh, shut up, will you? I got work to do."

* * *

_December 25, 1988 – Near the Mojave Desert – Off-Base Residence_

"Mommy, mommy, mommy! Look what Lou-Lou bought me!"

Maria looked down at her daughter with a smile on her face. She was wrapped in a flight jacket that was nearly as big as she was, only rivaled by her grin taking up most of her face. "That's nice. Are you sure it's yours? I see a name on that…"

Monica hurried to put her hand over the name. "No, it's mine. Lou-Lou said so!"

They had decided to gather at Carol and Maria's for Christmas, Jimmy included. It was beautiful the way they all came together to celebrate, even though Darcy was Jewish.

_"What? I can't love Christmas _and_ be Jewish? What is this, Nazi Germany?"_

Jimmy had been hard pressed to learn about Hanukkah and why it was so important, but he had surprised her with a menorah and a small gift each night that she celebrated. And then two weeks later, Christmas happened and she bought gifts for everyone. Including a new compass for Jimmy that had a photograph of her inside. He had nearly cried like a baby when he saw it.

_"Do you not like it?" She asked nervously when he just stared at the small object as if it had offended him. "I-I can take it back – "_

_ "Christ, I love it," he said thickly as he slung his arm over her shoulder and kissed her soundly. "I fuckin' love it."_

_ "Language in my house, Barnes!"_ _Maria yelled from the kitchen._

_ "I really _freakin_' love it," he amended. _

The air was warm around them as they sat outside and watched the stars. Darcy couldn't wait to be back in the sky again, having been grounded for nearly a month as they put their equations and speculations through the ringer to ensure everything would work. In a month, they'd be heading off on a mission that Dr. Lawson had yet to expand on, but Darcy was sure it would be worth it.

"Merry Christmas, baby," Jimmy said softly into her ear as she rested her head on his shoulder. "It's our second one, y'know."

"Is it? You move fast." She joked, giggling when he poked her side. "There isn't any other place I'd rather be, though. Sitting on our best friend's porch, working on planes, engaged to the best man I've ever met. It's heaven." She pulled back at him and smiled, her cheeks rosy from the wine Carol had plied her with. "It can only get better from here."

A sinking feeling emanated in his gut as he swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. "Yeah," he managed to choke out. "Only better from here."

* * *

_March 5, 1989 – Mojave Desert – Undisclosed Location_

Everything was going according to plan. The planes were ready for the final test, the engines were rebuilt.

Carol and Darcy were talking shop when Dr. Lawson burst into the hangar in a flight suit, her face set in hard lines. "We've got to go. We need to do the test now."

Darcy was first on her feet, looking bewildered. "But we don't have the go ahead until – "

"There are lives at stake. We have to go _now_."

It was a different side of the doctor that Darcy hadn't seen before. Serious and demanding.

"I'll fly," Carol said, nodding at the brunette. "You take your bird."

They suited up in less than five minutes while Maria had meandered into the hangar, arms full of notebooks that she had been studying. "Hey, you know how I said – what's going on?"

"Test is happening now."

"But the clearance – "

"Dr. Lawson said now," Carol said, zipping up her suit as Darcy did the same. "Maybe you can listen on the radio? I'm taking Doc up and Lou is flying her own."

The dark-skinned woman nodded, worry knitting its way across her brow. "I'll get Jimmy – "

"He's off base today. Recon or something." Darcy shrugged and slipped her goggles over her head, letting them rest on her neck. "If he gets back before I do, just tell 'im I love him, okay?"

"You got it, Lightning. Let's get your asses in the air."

Dr. Lawson strapped in behind Carol and shut the hatch at the same time Darcy strapped herself in. Flipping the radio on, she said, "Testing – can you hear me?"

"_Loud and clear, Lightning. Avenger_?"

"_We're a go. Wheels up in five."_

Darcy geared up her plane before moving her goggles over her eyes and squinting at the sun. Dr. Lawson read off coordinates over the radio and she dutifully punched them in.

"You girls ready?" She asked, letting her wheels roll her bird out of the protection of the hangar.

"_Higher – "_

_ "Further – "_

"Faster, baby!" Darcy finished, taking off behind them.

* * *

**Be sure to leave a review! Second installment will be up later.**

**~Grace**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

**Connection: An Interlude**

_"Another heart, has made the trade._

_Forget it, forget it, forget it."_

_Connection - Elastica_

_July 10, 1989 – Unknown Location_

Darcy didn't even remember landing. She was in her bird, way above the sky when she had told Carol to go.

What happened?

She was still in her flight suit, but it was very worn. The dank room she sat in was made of concrete and much colder than she expected. No windows, a single door.

Darcy _really_ didn't like it.

"Hello?" She said into the empty room. If they were going to kill her, they might as well get it over with. "Is anyone there?"

She wasn't expecting for the door to open so quickly or for who was standing on the other side.

"Wipe."

The brunette struggled to stand, glancing at her fiancé with worry. "Jimmy? Where are we?"

"_Soldat_! You have done well."

"Who the hell are you?" When had he come in? Why was he trying to grab her? Something was seriously wrong. "Let go of me! Jimmy! James! What's happening?"

Jimmy stood very stiffly. He was outfitted in…combat gear? His face was blank of emotion and she worried even more.

"Chair. Wipe her."

"Would she make a good asset like you, _Soldat_?" The man asked as he gripped her upper arm.

"Better."

This man wasn't her fiancé any longer, he was someone called _Soldat_. Cold, cool, calculating.

His grey blue eyes followed as she was dragged away and strapped into a metal chair.

Darcy's screams echoed in the large lab and _Soldat_ locked away the last part of himself that had dared to love again.

They took what he loved – he had nothing left now.

* * *

_August 21, 1989 – Unknown Location_

"Do you know who you are?"

The small brunette was dazed. She tasted metal in her mouth and a migraine took up residence right behind her eyes. She had no idea who she was or where she was, but the man was familiar.

"Asset, do you know who you are?"

"You're…Alexander Pierce…" she slurred. Getting her mouth to cooperate with her brain was a task she wasn't sure she was ready to undertake.

The man gave a grim smile. "I didn't ask you who _I_ was. Now, again. Who are you?"

"I don't…I don't remember."

"Her blood has extreme abnormalities," a man said. She couldn't see him, but she could hear the rustling of papers. "Dr. Lawson must've injected her with what left the residue at the crash site."

The man, Pierce, looked away from her. "Whose brilliant idea was it to wipe her before she was questioned?"

"Th-the soldier," the man stuttered.

"Yeah? Wipe him, too, and shove him in cryo. I've got to deal with her. Do we have anything on her? Strengths, abilities?"

More shuffling papers. "Best pilot in her class. You arranged for Dr. Lawson to bring her from Louisiana – "

"This was the lab rat? Interesting."

"Her name is Darcy Lewis."

Pierce crouched in front of her so he could be eye level, a grin on his face. "You're pretty, I'll give you that. Maybe that's why the soldier brought you to us. Maybe he wants a playmate." He chuckled. "No matter. You'll never remember. Darcy 'Lightning' Lewis…what a name for an ordinary girl."

* * *

_April 15, 1991 – Somewhere over Georgia_

The Asset was extremely smart when she needed to be. She took care in every mission that she was sent out on, being sure to get the job done right – and _quick_.

She was only pulled from the cold when _Soldat_ was indisposed and he was currently tracking something of extreme importance. Her target was a senator that was getting too pushy with higher ups, wanting to know more about the _organization_. The problem was that he wasn't genuine. He was someone that was planted for a reason. A reason that she was meant to dispose of.

As soon as the plane lifted from the ground, the Asset had made her way to the cockpit, carefully plucking off the flight attendants that tried to stand guard.

In mere moments, the pilot had met his end and the copilot was indisposed – well, as indisposed as one could be with a knife sticking out of their throat.

She managed to let the plane nosedive for a solid few minutes before flipping it sideways and running it into the ground a mere two miles from the runway. Surviving the impact had been a challenge, but the Asset walked away before authorities could arrive.

* * *

"You did well," her handler praised, looking at the report. A local paper had picked it up and dubbed it a 'malfunction', not even caring that the men that were supposed to be piloting it were worse for wear. "There will be something else you'll be assigned to soon. For now, back to the cold."

The Asset shuddered, but nodded anyway, dutifully making her way to the lab. A glance as the chamber next to her let her know that _Soldat_ had still not returned.

"See you soon, little girl."

* * *

_September 4, 1992 – California_

The Asset knew how to fire a gun, nock an arrow, detonate a bomb, but she had never dropped a bomb from a plane. Let alone a jet that was quite small.

It was for testing purposes. To see if the jet could even hold such a thing and not be ripped to shreds.

The Asset was told to fly above a desert and drop it, only to bail out if needed.

But why would she bail out when no parachute was provided?

That wasn't in her best interest.

Luckily for her, the bomb was dropped with ease and the plane only shuddered a bit under the loss of weight. The bomb, on the other hand, had failed to implode when it reached the ground and it was only after the fact that she learned that they weren't experimenting with a live bomb.

Before she could ask too many questions, she was shoved in the chair she loathed the most while her brain fried.

* * *

_November 24, 1992 – Unknown Location_

"It's time to let her into society. She has come a long way, but if we cannot test her progress, what is the point?"

Pierce looked up from his papers, narrowing his eyes at the man that stood before him. "_Soldat_ has never – "

"He brought _her_ back. Despite obtaining his own will as we let them play house, he still returned to the organization. And the lab has been playing with false memories, not perfected of course, but – "

"Wipe her and send her out, then. Send her somewhere familiar." Pierce glanced at her file, a cruel smile curling on his lips. "If she remembers, we find her and wipe her again."

"And if she doesn't?"

"They we know our methods work and we can recover her when needed. The Asset is only a wipe away, after all."

* * *

**Be sure to leave a review! Next installment up soon. **

**~Grace**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

**Just A Girl: Part I**

_"Don't you think I know exactly where I stand?_

_This world is forcing me to hold your hand."_

_Just A Girl – No Doubt_

_May 10, 1995 – Los Angeles, California – Blockbuster _

Darcy hated work. More specifically, she hated staying late and rewinding VHS tapes that customers had returned. Really, where was the common courtesy? And since she was the 'newest' employee, she always got the short end of the stick.

"Stupid people. Stupid movies," she muttered, restocking the freshly rewound tapes on the cart.

Being twenty-one and living in Los Angeles was definitely the dream. For most people, anyway. But Darcy? She was a recently recovering amnesiac that only had memories from the past three years. She had been eighteen, alone, and barely scraping by until a local women's shelter had helped her get back on her feet.

They helped her get the job at Blockbuster, a shoebox for an apartment, and a bike that she could ride back and forth. Her wardrobe was more than threadbare, but she dealt with it and bought a few new things with the part of her paycheck that didn't go towards paying her rent.

But she was on her own and that was what mattered.

Sometimes, she would get flashes of what she thought were memories. Flying, the wind in her hair, a family…

Not remembering sucked.

No record of Darcy Anne Lewis sucked even more.

She had tried to find out more about herself, but had turned up empty. A dead end trail of foster homes and decent grades that apparently made her qualified enough to run the counter at one of the only video stores in the area. Man, LA really sucked sometimes, too.

Once the movies were all back on the shelves and the register locked up, Darcy grabbed the store keys and blew an errant curl out of her eyes.

"Another day, another dollar," she reminded herself.

_CRASH!_

The small brunette stumbled against the glass door she had just unbolted, her heart stuttering wildly as she turned around.

A giant hole was now in the ceiling of the dingy little store, a fluorescent light hanging by wires as cases of burnt up movies littered the floor. Movies she had _just_ stocked.

"Awh, man," she whined, thumping her head against the door. Why was this her life? "My boss is gonna kill me."

She screamed when a freakin' _ball of fire_ whizzed passed her head. She fell to the floor, silently thanking whatever deity that had let her move just slightly enough to the left that her head wasn't a casualty. "What the fuck!"

Darcy really wasn't expecting to see a woman standing in the middle of the store in a suit that looked like it had come from a bad science fiction movie. Her hair was blonde, about to her shoulders, and she had a stiff look about her, more like she was confused but unable to admit it.

"Can I help you, lady? Or do I need to call the cops? You – "

"What planet is this?"

Darcy blinked. With one hand on her hip, she ground out, "Earth. Like, the third rock from the sun? The ones with _humans_?" Her glare lost a bit of its heat as she made her way back to her feet. Her legs were jello, man.

The blonde looked down and tapped her forearm a few times before her brows furrowed. "Is there some place I can make a call? It's important – _ouch_."

"You're bleeding." Darcy groaned. "I'm going to regret this, but c'mon, space cadet. I need food, a shower, and sleep. In that order. I have bandages and a phone at my place."

"Are you part of this planet's Starforce?"

"Nah, just your average Jane."

The blonde glanced at the smoking wreckage that was now the roof and gave an apologetic grimace. "I didn't mean to come through there. I've always been a little spotty on my landings."

"Don't sweat it. I'm gonna get fired anyways."

* * *

The food was the easiest thing to sort out. Normally, Darcy had her fridge stocked with food since she cooked on the weekends and a Wednesday was proving no different. What a hell of a hump day.

"What is this?" The blonde asked, staring down at the noodles. "I haven't seen – "

"Spaghetti. Tomato sauce and noodles." Darcy dumped the Tupperware into a pot and slowly heated it, stirring occasionally. "Go raid my closet and see if there's anything that'll fit you. You can take a shower, too, but I recommend letting me stitch up that slice in your hip first."

"Why are you being so nice to me? I ruined your – "

"I can handle it. Blockbuster gets annoying, y'know? Besides, a change of scenery is always nice."

It took about a half hour to get them both fed and showered and Darcy was in the process of stitching up the girl when she asked, "What's your name?"

"Darcy," she replied, tugging gently to make sure the skin was closed enough.

She snorted. "That's a weird name."

"And what's yours?" The brunette challenged.

"Vers."

She stuck the bandage over the cut and sat back, giving the blonde an odd look. "Vers? What kind of name is that? Jesus, and you thought _mine_ was weird."

Vers shrugged. "It's a weird name where I'm from, too. You said this was…_Earth_? So, it must be C-53. You said you had a phone?"

Darcy nodded. "In the kitchen. I'm gonna catch some sleep. You're more than welcome to the couch. There's a pillow in the hall closet and a blanket on the coffee table. Wake me up if you need anything, okay?"

"Thank you…Darcy."

* * *

_May 11, 1995 – Los Angeles, California – Lewis Residence_

"So, let me get this straight." Darcy popped a piece of waffle in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. Aliens, interplanetary travel, shape-shifters. It was a lot to digest even _with_ her morning coffee. "There are these things called scrolls and – "

"Skrulls."

" – and they can change their faces to be any_one_." At the blonde's nod, she continued, "And now they're on earth and trying to track down a doctor that has something magical. Am I getting this right?"

Vers looked down at the strawberry jam that Darcy had laid out for the toast and timidly applied it to the crunchy bread. "Yes. And I have to find Dr. Lawson. Do you know her?"

"Dude, there are so many doctors around here. Do you even know what she practiced? Medicine, physiology, physics? The list goes on."

"Science of some kind. There was a plane and…"

Darcy cocked her head. "Are you talking about your memories? Like, you remember a plane?"

"And I remember going down."

They sat in silence for a few moments, finishing up the easy breakfast that Darcy had thrown together. Vers had taken it upon herself to explain what she knew and enlist the petite brunette for help. Help that meant fighting.

"C'mon," she stood up and cleared the dishes before dumping them in the sink. Tying her curls back with an elastic on her wrist, she glanced sideways at Vers. "I've gotta go resign from my slave work and you've gotta figure out a way to save the world."

"The _planet_."

"You know it's the same thing, right?"

* * *

_Los Angeles, California – Blockbuster_

"Man, this place is crawling with cops."

"Authority?"

Darcy rolled her eyes as she peeked around the corner, noting a few cars that were definitely above the pay grade of a normal cop. "Yes, Vers, _authority._"

The blonde pushed her way past. "I can speak to them. They might now how I can search the people of the city. Oh! What if they know where Dr. Lawson is?"

"Get back here!" She hissed, grabbing her wrist and dragging her back with enough force that she was startled. "You can't just walk up to them! They'll take you to the loony bin! You crashed through the _roof_, Vers. It's not like you rang the damn door bell!" Her blue eyes widened as she saw a tall, dark-skinned man walking towards them. "Shit." Turning, she growled, "Don't say anything. Understand? I've been talking my way out of trouble for a long time now."

"Ladies! Any reason for loitering behind this fine…" his eyes cut to the Blockbuster and finished, "Establishment?"

Darcy snorted, but quickly recovered. "No reason. Just on our way…out of town."

He eyed them critically with an easy smile on his face. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about what happened, would you?"

"Not a thing."

"See, that gentleman over there says he saw you both leaving late last night." His finger pointed to a cop sitting in his car in the parking lot and she sighed. "And, there's a gaping hole in the ceiling."

Darcy blew a curl out of her eyes. "And you are?"

"Agent Nicholas Fury."

"Agent? Like, FBI?" She paled. Jesus, she was too young for this.

He chuckled, "No, not like the FBI." She relaxed and his face turned stony. "Worse than them."

"Oh, mother_fuck_."

Mistaking her outburst, Agent Fury nodded solemnly. "I need to question you both, so if you'd – "

He was cut off when Darcy tackled him to the ground, narrowly missing the bullet that had been aimed at his head. Whipping her head around, she yelled, "Vers! On the roof!"

The blonde shot literal _something_ out of her hands and ran towards the shooter. _Towards the fucking shooter_.

"Get your ass back here!" Darcy clambered to get off of the poor agent, accidently kneeing him in the balls in the process. "You gotta gun?" Not waiting for a response, she tugged open his suit jacket and removed an industry standard pistol from his person, aiming with accuracy before taking fire.

When the fuck had she learned how to use a gun? And gotten fucking _good_ at it?

"Vers!" She screamed.

"Miss." Agent Fury struggled to get upright, looking relatively pissed off when he did. "With all due respect, what the fuck was that?"

She panicked. "Do you have a car? We've gotta go. Like, now."

"I don't think – "

"NOW, NICKY! Let's move!"

Somehow, her yelling must have inspired him because not even ten minutes later, they were racing down the street, following a train that railed above the city. And, of course, she was stuck in the backseat while Agent Fury and someone, she assumed was a junior agent, monopolized the front.

"Can this damn car go any faster?"

Agent Fury looked in the rearview mirror at her. "Of course it can go faster." And he gunned it, slamming her back against the seat as she practically hung her head out the window to see what was happening above.

She could see Vers nearly fall off the top of the train, but whip herself back up in a matter of seconds. "Good God, I'm going to need a heart transplant when we finally get to her."

"We? _We _are dropping you off at the station, little lady."

"Not fucking likely. Where Vers go, I go."

"Vers? That's her name?" Junior Agent asked, readjusting his shades.

"Yup," she answered, popping the 'p'. "And, right now, we need to get to the station. You can do that, right, Nicky?"

"My name is _Fury_ – "

"And mine's Darcy. Nice to meet you." She sassed, swinging her head back in the window and screeching when a large piece of metal hit the hood of the car.

"We're about five minutes from the station, think you can last that long?"

The radio crackled, "_Sir, this is Agent Coulson. Are you coming back to the scene? I was investigating the store and no one was here when I came out – _"

"Skrull!" Darcy screamed, grabbing the alien sitting in the passenger seat and slamming his head the headrest. She could feel his features change under her arm and a quick glance at Agent Fury proved that her theory was correct.

"Can you hold him? I'm pulling over. I swear to – "

Darcy grimaced. "If you can manage to avoid that truck!" The last part of her sentence ended in a scream as she dove to the driver's side of the car right as the truck plowed into them, careening them off the curb. She had never been more thankful that she flicked the safety on the gun before shoving it into her jacket. And that was when her head slammed into the window and it all went black.

* * *

_"Are you sure you won't stay?"_

_ Darcy blinked up from the warm cup of cocoa resting between her palms and gave Maria a tired smile. "I'm sure. I've got my own home, y'know."_

_ "That shack doesn't count."_

_ She sighed. "It's a home and it's mine." Her voice quieted, thinking of all the times she had gone without. "I've never had something that was just mine before, and it may be shitty, but it's mine." She set down the cup and batted halfheartedly at a lightning bug that was pestering her space._

_ "Darcy…Monica, Carol, and you mean the world to me. I don't know how you managed to worm your way into my heart, but I'm glad you did. If you aren't going to look after yourself, at least let me do it." With a huff, she sat down next to her on the wooden steps outside the door, slinging her arm over the younger girl's shoulders. "Stop messing with that damn firefly!"_

_ Darcy stopped, her palms cupped around the little bug. "It's a lightning bug."_

_ "You're lightning."_

_ "Yeah?"_

_ "Yeah," Maria smiled. "New call sign. And it's gonna stick."_

_ "Whatever."_

"Darcy! Wake up, girl. We've got to get out of here."

The brunette blinked awake, a smile at the forefront of her mind before the memory slipped away again. Now, Agent Fury was staring down at her with a cut on his eyebrow and a serious look on his face. "Wha' happened?" She asked, her words taking longer to come to her lips than they should have.

"Sideswiped. But, we're in working order."

She bolted up, smacking her face against his as her eyes searched for the Skrull.

"He's dead. Not my doing," he insisted, holding his hands up. "Truck did the damage. And we missed the train by a good fifteen minutes. Any idea where your friend was headed?"

Darcy nodded distractedly. "Do you know a bar? Called…Pancho's?"

* * *

_Near Los Angeles, California – Pancho's Bar _

"This is a biker bar."

Darcy nodded, fighting the feeling of nostalgia that overwhelmed her from looking at the rusted sign above the smallish building. It was familiar in a happy way.

"And you think she'd come here?"

They had made a stop at what Agent Fury was calling headquarters – and dropped off the Skrull that had tried to hitch a ride with them – and she had been checked out, making sure her head was still in working order. Or, well, as well as it had worked before the crash, anyway.

"Considering that's my flannel on the seat of that bike, I'm gonna assume I'm right." Darcy grunted as she pushed herself out of the car they'd traded up to when they had stopped. Her head was still throbbing, but it was manageable with the pain shot they had given her when she told them that she was pretty immune to pills of any kind. Her ass cheek still hurt, too.

She shuffled inside when Agent Fury opened the door for her. Her eyes drifted to the bar and her vision whited out.

_ The brunette blinked again and her vision swam in front of her. A fidgety looking man that was a little too close was just to her right, taking up space at the bar. Brown hair was a little too long and his blue eyes much too calculated for sitting in a dimly lit room. _

_ "M'name's Jimmy."_

_ Darcy squinted at him. "I haven't seen you here before."_

_ "Needed a new place."_

_ "Get kicked out of your old one?"_

_ He looked down, smothering a grin. "Just didn't like the birds there, is all."_

_ "Well," she said, downing her shot and giving him a once over. "The only birds I care about are the ones I can get into the sky. You military? Don't think I didn't notice that sweet prosthetic. Metal, huh? Plastic ones are a little overdone, anyway."_

_ He seemed to shutter in on himself, seemingly worried about something. He mumbled quietly, nothing she could pick up before he asked. "You fly?"_

_ "Better than the best, dude."_

"Darcy? You with me, kid?"

She blinked hard, dimly registering the feel of concrete against her back. Had she fallen?

"Like a sack of potatoes. Good thing I have excellent reflexes." His grin melted away at her confused look. "You said that out loud."

"Embarrassing."

"Your nose is bleeding."

Fingers flew to her upper lip and, sure enough, they came away sticky. Her brain turned fuzzy again and she murmured, "I remember…being here before."

Agent Fury gave her a concerned look. "How hard did you hit your head? Am I dealing with amnesia, now? Is that what you are, kid? An amnesiac?"

"You're dealing with two apparently."

He whirled around, gun in hand when Vers appeared, a confused look on her face. The blonde held her hands up to show she wasn't armed, but he knew what she was capable of even _without_ a gun.

"I showed up on my home planet six years ago with no memory." She held out a hand to help Darcy up. A sympathetic look graced her features and she asked, "How long has it been for you?"

"I woke up in a hospital three years ago. No record of 'Darcy Lewis' anywhere. I don't…I don't remember anything. But this place? I remember something. Some_one_. I don't – "

"As much fun as girl talk is, how in the hell are we supposed to save the planet from the weird body snatcher things?"

Vers straightened. "You came in contact with one?"

"An agent that hitched a ride with us. He didn't make it." Darcy drew her finger across her throat and made a choking sound.

Agent Fury sighed and took a seat at one of the tables, surprised that there wasn't a bartender behind the bar. He flipped out his pager and started typing before he looked up. "So, in the spirit of full disclosure, why are you both here?"

Darcy waved her hand. "I _live_ here. On earth, I mean."

"And you?"

"Trying to stop aliens from obtaining something that would make it possible to kill us all."

He nodded, seemingly satisfied with her answer. "How can I help?"

"We're looking for Dr. Wendy Lawson."

"She was heading Project PEGASUS."

They spoke at the same time, causing his brows to rise. "PEGASUS?" He nodded slowly. "That's top secret, need to know basis."

"Yeah, well, the Skrulls know, so how secret can it be?"

He relented. "I can get you in the base and we can go from there. If you're both up for it."

"I'm ready," Vers nodded solemly.

Darcy rolled her eyes. "It's on like Donkey Kong."

* * *

_Mojave Desert – Undisclosed Location_

"I swear, if I die in this tiny room, I'm coming back and haunting you both."

They had managed to make it into the military base with the help of Agent Fury's ID and a flash down Darcy's shirt and now they were shoved in a room for asking too many questions about Project PEGASUS. A room that she wasn't sure they'd get out of alive, anyway. The military had a way of making people disappear when it suited them. They _were_ close to Roswell…

Vers looked up from the desk that was across the room. "I won't let you die."

"What about me?"

The blonde gave him a considering once-over. "I'm still deciding."

Agent Fury sighed. "I really don't know why I'm putting up with the both of you."

"Because you don't want aliens sucking up your memories and stealing your face?" Darcy suggested before making grabby hands towards him. "Give me your ID."

"What, so you can keep calling me Nicky?"

"Awh, Nicky, no." She giggled before her face turned serious. "So I can use that finger print that guard left on your face before he let us in. I'd let her blast the door open, but I think we're going for subtle."

With a little tape from the desk, she managed to lift the print off the plastic card and press it against the scanner to the left of the door. A smirk curled across her red lips when it slid open effortlessly.

"You a spy, kid? I could use you – "

"No recruiting until we've saved the world," she cut him off, glancing over her shoulder at him. "Afterwards, we're fair game."

It wasn't what Darcy was expecting, more like being in a tin building with too many different hallways that led to who knew where. Her feet trailed after Vers and Agent Fury as her mind tried to take in everything. Analyzing where they had come from and where the best escape route would be.

Which was odd in itself. She never thought like that, never planned ahead. Darcy had always been the girl that just rolled with everything, but this little excursion was proving to go against the grain. Man, she had to stop bringing home strays.

"Oh, look at this little guy. Aren't you cute."

Her face screwed up as she looked down and saw him baby-talking an orange cat.

"We're not here to consort with cats, Fury. The records are on the floor below – "

"His name is Goose," Agent Fury said. He crouched and scratched right under the feline's chin. "Who's a good Goose? Huh? Who's a good kitty?"

Vers glanced at the cat. "Who name's their cat Goose? Isn't that an animal?"

_"Let's go, Goose!" She called over her shoulder, smirking when she heard the pitter patter of little paws behind her._

_ Anytime she dared leave the cat behind, she would give her the evil eye until the next time she went up in the air. Better to take the damn cat up then deal with untied shoelaces._

_ "You sure that cat's not yours? I know Doc says its hers, but – "_

_ The brunette scooped Goose up in her arms and shot Carol a grin. "Might as well be. She's been following me since Doc offered me a job."_

_ "Enough talk – let's go!"_

"Darcy?"

The brunette shook her head hard, gripping the hand that Vers had on her shoulder. "Sorry, I…I've been having flashes lately. I'm not sure what causes them."

"What did you see?" She asked quietly. Her eyes glanced at Agent Fury, satisfied that he was preoccupied with the cat. "Was it…"

Darcy nodded. "The past. I think. I don't really understand."

"We'll figure it out." Vers smiled sadly. "I promise."

* * *

"P…P…P…" Darcy muttered, looking down each of the rows that held more secrets than she could ever hope to know in her lifetime. They trailed behind her and she tried to focus on anything but the concerned look Vers had given her when the flashback hit.

Finding the row she was searching for, she made a beeline to it, shifting the boxes and files.

"PEGASUS…"

The box sat in her lap when she sank to the floor, carefully pulling the lid off as if she was afraid of the contents.

In a way, she was. What if the box held something horrible about her past? What if there was nothing? The first eighteen years of her memory was gone – she didn't want to lose what little she had left.

"Dr. Wendy Lawson…deceased." Her brows furrowed. Flipping through the large file, she mumbled to herself. "Crash on…July ninth of 1989…three casualties….project disbanded…no record – "

"Find anything?"

Darcy looked up and held out the file to the blonde before pulling out scattered papers from the bottom of the box.

There was an account of the prior events by a Maria Rambeau and an official report declaring Project PEGASUS as ended by a man named Alexander Pierce.

"We're too late," she murmured, running her fingers over a glossy photograph of Dr. Lawson. "They killed the project after her death. No one could replicate her data, I'm sure."

"Because it's all gibberish."

Darcy jumped, not having heard Agent Fury approach. "We've gotta put a bell on you."

"Look at this – she went cuckoo before she died."

The brunette peered at the notebook and she looked at Vers. "Isn't that…an alien language?"

"It's Kree…" she nodded slowly, tracing the patterns on the paper. "She was…a genius."

_"Doc? This isn't adding up."_

_ Dr. Lawson looked over her shoulder at the equation. Her lips moved wordlessly as she analyzed before she pointed to a variable. "That should be over there."_

_ Darcy cursed. "Dammit."_

"Well, where do we start?"

"She was building an engine. A lightspeed one…if the Skrulls got it, they could travel anywhere, couldn't they? But, why would the Kree need it? Don't you guys have, like, enough spaceships and stuff?"

Vers shrugged. "I think it was more of a 'you can't have it if we can't' thing."

"Girls?"

Darcy looked at Agent Fury. "What?"

"All right, space cadet, are you _sure_ you've never been on earth before?"

"This is my first visit."

His eyes turned to Darcy. "And you're an amnesiac? No memory of the last three years?" He clarified.

She blew a curl out of her face. "Duh. What's with the sudden questions?"

"I think there's a reason why the two of you don't remember anything. And fate is one cruel bitch, if I do say so myself." He held up the picture that had been in his hand, pointing to the trio of girls that stood front and center with their arms wrapped around each other and happy smiles on their faces. "There was a crash three years ago that had three casualties reported. One was Dr. Lawson and the other two were pilots that were part of the project. That's why this place is locked up so tight – they're covering it up."

Darcy stared at the photo, recognizing her easy smile and bright red lips while Vers stood to the left of her and a dark-skinned woman was on her right. They looked…like a family.

_"Are you sure you won't stay?"_

_ Darcy blinked up from the warm cup of cocoa resting between her palms and gave Maria a tired smile. "I'm sure. I've got my own home, y'know."_

_ "That shack doesn't count."_

_ She sighed. "It's a home and it's mine." Her voice quieted, thinking of all the times she had gone without. "I've never had something that was just mine before, and it may be shitty, but it's mine." She set down the cup and batted halfheartedly at a lightning bug that was pestering her space._

_ "Darcy…Monica, Carol, and you mean the world to me. I don't know how you managed to worm your way into my heart, but I'm glad you did. If you aren't going to look after yourself, at least let me do it." With a huff, she sat down next to her on the wooden steps outside the door, slinging her arm over the younger girl's shoulders._

"Who is that?" Darcy asked quietly, pointing to the other woman.

"I'm going to assume that's Maria Rambeau. The last person to see the three of you alive."

The brunette looked down at the document, noting the place of residence. "How do you guys feel about stealing a plane? I'm sure this place is full of them."

"Where are we headed?"

"Louisiana."

Vers smiled and grabbed the files and put them back away before helping Darcy to her feet. "I'm in. How do we get there?"

Agent Fury smirked. "Hang a right at Memphis and keep going towards the water."

"Get the cat and let's get out of here."

* * *

**Be sure to leave a review!**

**~Grace**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

* * *

**Just A Girl: Part II**

_"The moment that I step outside,_

_So many reasons for me to run and hide._

_I can't do the little things I hold so dear._

_'Cause it's all those little things that I fear."_

_Just A Girl – No Doubt_

_May 11, 1995 – Mojave Desert – Undisclosed Location_

"You sold us out?! What the fuck, dude!"

"In my defense, I was under the impression that you were both crazy."

Darcy grimaced. "You _saw_ one of those things! You saw what it could do!"

"You're human – she's not!"

Vers grunted as she threw a right hook at one of the SHIELD agents coming at them. "Are you guys going to keep arguing or help? I can blast them, but I figured you might be opposed to it."

"Blast away, space lady!" Darcy cried, grabbing the gun she'd accosted from Agent Fury earlier and shooting low. "Just try to injure, not kill."

"On it."

"I'm going to try to find a way out of here!"

Darcy took off and weaved through the hangar, looking for anything that seemed familiar to her. And, in a way, it all did. She located a small plane relatively quickly, making her way up the hatch and flipping the switches as the engine hummed to life.

"Jesus, I'm gonna give myself a heart attack with all this shit I don't know, but know," she rambled to herself. A loud meow from the floor caught her attention and she scooped Goose up in her arms. "This familiar or somethin'? I feel like you know me, too."

A rough tongue made its way up the side of her face and she sighed. "True affection, my feline."

"Do you know how to fly this thing?" Agent Fury asked as he pushed Vers in ahead of him and took a seat behind her.

"Uhhh…"

His eye twitched. "It's a yes or no answer."

Darcy flipped a few more switches and the back of the plane closed up. She grinned widely and nodded to them both. "Yes."

Bullets ricocheted off of the steel that surrounded them and she put the pedal to the metal, clearing out the agents that had gathered around the plane to try to stop it. Two minutes later and they were airborne, Goose clutching to the denim of her jeans as if her life depended on it.

"Louisiana, here we come."

* * *

_New Orleans, Louisiana – Rambeau Residence_

They made it to Louisiana in record time. Darcy had worried her bottom lip between her teeth nearly the entire flight while Vers and Agent Fury chattered. It was mainly idly chatter, comparing the differences between planets and weapons while Goose curled up between the back of her neck and the seat. The steady purr kept her stomach from twisting more than it already was.

It hadn't taken her long to land the smallish plan in the greenlands near a small cluster of houses and even less time to find the house they were looking for.

_The house was way bigger than the shack Darcy called home in the bayou. It was large and open and just so inviting that it made her realize why Carol and Maria were so happy away from the eye of the city. Not to mention there was a personal hangar behind it that housed Maria's small plane comfortably._

_"C'mon, Lou. Don't be a stranger. I'm sure Monica would love to see you."_

_Darcy smiled at the sound of Maria's voice and made her way up the stairs that led to the door._

_It was Louisiana chic, old with enough class that made her sure that she had made the right choice leaving Pennsylvania._

_"Lou-Lou!"_

_"Hey, Moni-girl!"_

"We've been here before."

The brunette was getting better at working her way through the memories that hit her at the most inopportune time. She hoped, if enough memories came, that she would be able to piece together who she was. Or, at least, who she was in '89 before there was no more record of her.

Vers' brows furrowed. "I don't think I have – "

"I remember you here. _Us _here." She shook her head. The cobwebs of thoughts getting lost. "Why don't you and Nicky go around back? I need a couple minutes…to try not to have my head explode."

Okay, so maybe she was lying about having her 'memories' under control.

* * *

"Is this some kind of joke?"

"Lou-Lou!"

It was a reflex she didn't know she had. Darcy didn't really remember being around children of any age, let alone having an over-excited twelve-year-old clinging to her midsection as if her life depended on it.

"Monica – "

"I knew you'd both come back! They told us you died, but I didn't believe them." The little girl blinked up at her with the widest brown eyes that she'd ever seen and Darcy was instantly taken with her. "You promised to come back!"

"You're right, Lieutenant Trouble. I did promise, didn't I?" Darcy smiled back, squeezing the girl close. Her eyes met Maria's, noticing that she and Vers were hovering near the farmhouse while Agent Fury had meandered a little further away. "Maybe we should go talk to your mom, okay?"

* * *

"I remember…a lab in the desert, how I hated the heat. There was the three of us and Dr. Lawson and…" Darcy's brows furrowed. "I can't remember."

"Jimmy," Maria supplied helpfully.

The dark-skinned woman had hesitantly opened her home to them, weeping a weary eye on Vers – or Carol – seeing how she could shoot fucking fire from her fists.

Monica, her daughter, had been sent upstairs while the adults tried to untangle the mess that had become their memories.

Darcy had walked in like she had done it a hundred times before. She avoided the squeaky floorboard near the entrance and hung her loose jacket on the knob behind the front door without being prompted. Maria had watched curiously, even giving her an odd look when she took a seat at the dining room table after avoiding the chair that was nearest to her.

_"You never sit at the head of the table," Maria laughed. "You know I don't mind, right?"_

_"Not my house, dude."_

_Carol smirked as she settled across from the brunette. "She's right, Photon. Little Lightning was raised with _manners_."_

"Who's Jimmy?" Darcy cocked her head to the side. The name didn't ring any bells, didn't cause a memory to rush to the forefront of her mind. It was like it was distinctly empty, completely missing.

Maria's eyes widened. Her eyes bounced between the girls before she sighed. "Jimmy? Your fiancé? He stuck around for about a month after you…died and then he disappeared. They said he relocated. He almost destroyed a hangar when he heard the news. It took _eight_ guys to restrain him."

Vers raised her brows. "You were engaged."

It was a statement more than anything, but it rang with surprise.

"I guess," she shrugged. "I don't remember."

"He was a really good guy." Maria smiled softly, "Army. Didn't know a damned thing about planes, but watched you like a hawk. You could fix just about anything with a few tools and enough willpower and he practically lived in the lab when you were there." She chuckled, tracing the condensation droplets on her glass. "Even Doc loved him. Thought he was good for you after everything you'd been through."

Her heart hurt.

She had _loved_ someone. Loved someone enough that she wanted to marry him.

It was surreal.

Like her life had already been lived already.

"You haven't even aged a day," Maria continued, "You still look eighteen."

"I'm twenty-one – "

"I've heard that lie before. You joined the Air Force at sixteen. We all knew, but we let you keep your secrets. Doc said you were more than your age and, once we flew with you, we knew she was right."

Vers reached across the table and squeezed Darcy's hand. "We're here for you, _with_ you. We'll remember."

She sniffled. "I know."

* * *

_"Lightning! Turn it around!"_

_"No!"_

_"Lou, Rambeau needs you on the ground!"_

_"No! Avenger, pull up! I'm going under!"_

Darcy cringed at the sound of her voice on the black box.

Stubborn. Hard. Unyielding.

It made sense seeing how she was now. It must have been a trait that was imbedded so deep that not even amnesia had a hope of ridding her of it.

When Talos – the alien Skrull scum – had literally appeared in Maria's home, it took everything in Darcy's DNA not to pull Agent Fury's handgun from the waistband of her jeans and take fire. She had suppressed the urge only because Vers had lit up her fists and threatened to take the son of a bitch's head off. In kinder words, of course.

When he spoke of obtaining the black box that had recorded Darcy and Carol's final words, they'd been skeptical, but decided to hear him out with Maria's urging.

_"They said it had been destroyed – no trace of it," Maria shrugged. "What's the worst that can happen?"_

It was the missing link, so to speak. Maybe her memories would resurface. Maybe Vers' would. It was a risk that all of them were willing to take.

_"Lightning! Get out of here!"_ There was a loud noise before Carol spoke again. _"Mayday! We're going down!"_

_"I've got eyes on the bird! Commencing chase – "_

_"Darcy, no!"_

_"Get to the ground, Avenger. Doc's priority. I'll meet you down there."_

_"Listen to her, Carol. She was made for this,"_ Dr. Lawson's voice said surely, but sadly. _"An accident and a blessing. Let's get to the ground. I've got to destroy the core."_

There was a moment of silence before she seemed to resign herself. _"Roger that, Lightning. Heading down."_

"There's more from…Lightning's point. From her black box, but we couldn't find it." He looked at her, pity in his gaze. "There's lots of files on you, Darcy Lewis. In the bowels of SHIELD."

"We don't hide anything – "

Agent Fury was cut off when Talos held up his hand. "There's a lot you don't know, mate. You'd be surprised what people tell you when they think you're someone you're not."

* * *

"Wrench."

The tool was plopped into her hand and she tightening the final bolt on her Franken-plane, wiping her hand across her face when she was done.

Getting a plane flight ready for space travel wasn't something she recalled doing, but her muscles sure did. Brain muscles and normal muscles knew their way around tools and planes. It was alarming and familiar and Darcy felt way out of her Blockbuster depths.

"Will it make it?" Vers asked, glancing under the plane. Monica had changed the colors on the suit that she refused to trash and now she looked more patriotic than the guy who used to dance in the USO in WWII. Darcy giggled and the blonde rolled her eyes. "Well?"

Space travel excited the brunette. Apparently, the actual core that Dr. Lawson was working on was housed in her true lab – above earth – and, if they could find it, it would help the Skrulls get to a new planet where the Kree couldn't hurt them.

Since, you know, the Kree were bad. Who would've thought?

Vers had been questioning it with how the Supreme Intelligence – "_a computer dictates your entire planet? What the fuck!" _– had been treating her for the past six years.

But now she had undeniable proof. Dr. Lawson was really a Kree named Mar Vell that had come to earth to try to create a lightspeed engine that would help the Skrulls escape the Kree and live in peace on another planet. But then she was murdered.

As was Carol.

And Darcy.

"It'll make it," the brunette answered with confidence. She might not have known a lot about her past, but she trusted her mind. "We'll get the core so we can help them."

Vers kicked her feet up on the worn table in the hangar. "I never thought I'd betray my kind."

"But they're not your kind, are they? You're human, just like me. You're just…a little different."

"It was my mentor," she said quietly. "I remember…the plane going down and Yon-Rogg…he killed her. He killed Mar Vell. I shot the core and…I don't know how it ended." She shook her head. "I lost my life. My memories. Who I _was_."

Darcy glanced at her. "Do you trust him? Agent Fury?"

"He helped us – "

"He also tried to arrest us."

"He's all we have on this planet. He could've reported us – "

"He _did_."

"But we ended up where we needed to be." Vers sighed and stood up, offering Darcy her hand. "We're working on a time frame that doesn't benefit anyone, but we're running out of time. The faster we get off world, the faster this will all be over."

* * *

_Mar Vell's Lab – Unknown Location_

Glowing cube? Check.

Space cat? Check.

People she arrived with? Check, check, check, and check.

An army of angry Kree?

Oh _shit_.

Darcy spun around andd grabbed Maria's shoulder as soon as Vers started firing blasts from her fists.

"I need you to take this." The brunette shoved the yellow lunchbox at her. Her eyes swept the small space, thankful that Talos was cooperating with Agent Fury. "Take this and get to the plane. We'll meet up – "

"I've heard that tone of voice before," Maria scolded, grabbing the lunchbox anyway. "You're not sacrificing yourself for any_one_. You hear me, Lightning? Not now, not again."

Darcy shook her head.

Lightning? That wasn't her anymore, if it ever was. That girl was long gone, dead even.

"You listen to me, Darcy Lewis. You are important. Maybe not to a lot of people, but to people who matter."

Gritting her teeth, the brunette managed to get out, "Stay safe. Protect them. This isn't about fighting wars, it's about – "

"Ending them," Maria finished.

They went their separate ways after Darcy willingly handed over her borrowed handgun. She was confident that Maria would keep them safe.

The hunt was on for a weapon. Maybe a nice alien one.

Suddenly, the wind was knocked out of her and she was flat on her back, staring up at the metal ceiling.

A man with bright eyes and twin swords stared down at her as she greedily sucked air into her lungs.

"Are you lost little lamb?"

_"You don't belong here," the arrogant pilot said smugly. "It's called a _cock_pit for a reason, sweetheart. Maybe you should run home and start popping out a few kids, huh?"_

_"I belong here just as much as you do," a Darcy that she didn't recognize snarked back with her hands on her hips. Her was face screwed up in defiance. "I got into this program, too."_

_The pilot looked down his nose at her. "What a mistake they made."_

"I'm not a lamb," she ground out.

The Kree smirked. "Then what are you?"

_"Get your worthless ass up!" Her father yelled, grabbing her arm and yanking her out of bed. "You on your rag, huh? Worthless woman. Can't even get up when you're bleedin' like a stuck pig."_

_Darcy whimpered as her father shook her._

_"Worthless bitch."_

"Hmmm?" The Kree asked again. "What are you?"

_"Do you know who you are?"_

_The small brunette was dazed. She tasted metal in her mouth and a migraine took up residence right behind her eyes. She had no idea who she was or where she was, but the man was familiar._

_"Asset, do you know who you are?"_

_"You're…Alexander Pierce…" she slurred. Getting her mouth to cooperate with her brain was a task she wasn't sure she was ready to undertake._

_The man gave a grim smile. "I didn't ask you who _I_ was. Now, again. Who are you?"_

_"I don't…I don't remember."_

_"Her blood has extreme abnormalities," a man said. She couldn't see him, but she could hear the rustling of papers. "Dr. Lawson must've injected her with what left the residue at the crash site."_

_The man, Pierce, looked away from her. "Whose brilliant idea was it to wipe her before she was questioned?"_

_"Th-the soldier," the man stuttered._

_"Yeah? Wipe him, too, and shove him in cryo. I've got to deal with her. Do we have anything on her? Strengths, abilities?"_

_More shuffling papers. "Best pilot in her class. You arranged for Dr. Lawson to bring her from Louisiana – "_

_"_This_ was the lab rat? Interesting."_

_"Her name is Darcy Lewis."_

_Pierce crouched in front of her so he could be eye level, a grin on his face. "You're pretty, I'll give you that. Maybe that's why the soldier brought you to us. Maybe he wants a playmate." He chuckled. "No matter. You'll never remember. Darcy 'Lightning' Lewis…what a name for an ordinary girl."_

"Pathetic human," the man spat.

"Lightning," she mumbled, her eyes becoming her own again. "I'm Lightning."

"Not much fanfare for such a wondrous occurrence," he sneered.

A feeling raced up her spine and she went with it. Reaching out, she grabbed his ankle that was near her head and watched as he convulsed above her.

"I'm fucking Lightning, asshole."

Maybe she didn't shoot fire from her fists, but electricity was bound to come in handy eventually.

Especially when she was on board an orbiting lab.

Made of _metal_.

Shit was about to get real.

* * *

"There's only one!" Darcy yelled over the roar of the engine.

Maria and Agent Fury had gotten the Skrulls out of the ship while Darcy and Vers had stayed behind to try to clean house, but it wasn't working out like they had hoped. The remaining Kree that were still walking – not drooling on the ground or blasted through a wall – had taken to the emergency pods and gone after the fleeing aliens.

And there was one pod left with two women that needed to kick ass and take names.

Vers cursed before she was engulfed in flames. "Go help Maria! I'll take care of Yon-Rogg."

The brunette gave a stiff nod and jumped into the small pod and strapped herself in. A few button presses later and she was flying out of the orbiting lab, heading straight towards the big blue planet that was her home.

She was desperate to know more about the memories that had come back to her when she had been in imminent danger.

Who was Alexander Pierce? His name was in the folder they had found. He was the one that disbanded PEGASUS. Did he know about her? The memory made it sound like he did.

"Fuck!" She yelped when her ship shook.

Yon-Rogg had appeared behind her, intent on shooting her out of the sky.

Darcy shoved the controls down hard, her ship diving downwards and nearly shaking the man off of her tail. He was faster than she anticipated, but her call sign wasn't Lightning without good reason.

Jerking the controls to the right, she did a barrel roll before dropping down into the small canyon of the desert below.

She fiddled with what she assumed was the radio, hoping she would come across Maria's voice eventually.

"Lightning to Photon – do you read me?" There was only static that greeted her and she switched buttons again. "Photon – "

_"Heading west – we've got a bogey coming in hot."_

Darcy glanced down at the radar and cursed. "I'm on my way. ETA two minutes. Stay low, Photon."

_"Roger."_

She wasn't sure where Yon-Rogg went, but she was willing to bet that Vers had distracted him enough to let her get away. It was almost easy to find Maria and the Kree chasing her.

"I hope this thing has guns," she murmured to herself. With a cock of her head, she flipped up a part of the controls and grinned seeing a bright red button. "That's what I'm talking about!"

_"Lightning! I need back up!"_

"Inbound," she replied, taking up residence behind the ship that was identical to hers. As soon as the ship was in her crosshairs, she slammed her finger down on the button. "Bullseye!"

The jet in front of her faltered, but kept flying.

"How far out are you?"

_"About an hour."_

"Head there and don't look back. We'll meet you there."

_"Lightning – "_

"Go!"

Maria and Darcy swooped down at the same time before the former headed east and the latter took her place.

Darcy's eyes tracked the escape pod, a smile curling on her red lips. "You wanna fly, little blue bitch? Let's fly."

* * *

Darcy was almost one hundred percent sure that she landed on a cactus.

Her wrist had a gash on it from the emergency pin that she had pulled when the ass-face had blown up her ship. The landing had been particularly rough seeing as she was too close to the ground for the parachute to do any good.

"Why is this my life?" She groaned as she flopped onto her back and stared up at the endless blue sky.

Vers had brought down Yon-Rogg only moments after Darcy had fallen. And now it looked like the blonde was trying to prevent a human/alien battle. By herself. Seriously, there were fucking missiles heading towards earth and Vers was deflecting them like they were nothing.

"You mean something to her."

Blue eyes peered upwards as she snorted. "Dude, you just fell further than I did. How are you still moving?"

"I can use you to make her return," he grunted as he grabbed her wrist. "I can – "

"Are you seriously monologuing? Ugh. Zappy, zappy," she sing-songed before letting the odd feeling flow through her veins.

Yon-Rogg's teeth rattled in his head as he fell to his knees and stared at her with wide, unseeing eyes.

"If you let go of me, it'll stop."

It seemed like it took a lot of effort for him to release her and when he finally did, it was like his strings had been cut. His muscles shook as he stuttered, "Wh-what are y-you?"

Darcy gave a half-assed shrug. "Lightning."

* * *

_New Orleans, Louisiana – Rambeau Residence_

"You're bleeding!"

Getting back to New Orleans had been hell. Absolute hell.

Vers had found her, sent Yon-Rogg back to wherever the fuck he came from, and then the girls had stolen a plane from the desert headquarters. _Again_.

Agent Fury was going to kill them.

She fairly limped into Maria's farmhouse and collapsed at the dining room table. Her flannel was fucked. Blood was _not_ something she could wash out.

"Huh?" Darcy asked, glancing down at her arm when the dark-skinned woman pulled at her shirt.

At one point, there had been a ridiculous cut on her wrist, but now there was only blood stained skin.

"I cut myself…"

_"Oh my god! Are you okay?"_

_The man wrapped his metal hand around his forearm and turned away. "It's nothin'."_

_"Jimmy, let me see," she cajoled. "That was pretty deep."_

_The man, Jimmy, reluctantly removed his hand and she stared at it, completely dumbfounded._

_There was no cut. No damaged skin. Just the blood – that was still _wet_._

_"I'm different," he said quietly. "I won't hurt you – "_

_"I know," she whispered back._

_"I love you."_

"Darcy?"

She was like him now. Like Jimmy. Like her fiancé.

Her eyes found Maria's. "Do you have any pictures of him? Jimmy?"

"I…I think so." She was completely derailed by the change of topic, but nodded anyway. "How about you and Carol – _Vers_ take a shower and I'll see what I can scrounge up."

"Is Nicky okay?"

Maria chuckled. "Goose scratched him, but he should be find. Talos and his wife are helping the rest of his people get settled outside."

"All right," the brunette sighed. "I'll meet you down here when I'm done."

* * *

_"Someday, we'll have it all."_

_Darcy looked up at the edge of his jaw and snuggled closer under his right arm. "All?"_

_The sky was so pretty. They weren't supposed to lay on the landing strip, but it was the only place on base that had the best view of the stars and it was far enough away from all the lights. They could truly be alone. With the crickets, anyway._

_"The house in the country, the cat, the kids. We'll have it all, baby." He glanced down at her and smiled. "You deserve it. You deserve to be happy and safe."_

_"You want kids with me?"_

_They hadn't really talked about it before. She never talked about her shitty childhood and he was vague about his own, so it never came up. But she wasn't opposed to it._

_"A couple if you'll have me."_

_She giggled. "Of course I want kids with you, you goof! Ugh, can you imagine how beautiful they'd be?" She sighed dreamily, visions of little bundles in her head. "Big blue eyes and dark hair. Maybe they'll be pale like me or maybe they'll be darker like you – "_

_"If the girls are half as pretty as their ma, I'll have to beat the boys off with a stick."_

_"Somehow I don't doubt that." Darcy rolled over and pressed a kiss to his chest. "I've got two more years left. Then we can go."_

_"Yeah? Where do you want to go?"_

_She thought about it. "Maybe back to Louisiana. Then we can be close to the girls."_

_Jimmy smiled. "Whatever you want, babydoll. Whatever you want."_

Jimmy was every bit as handsome as her mind remembered.

Maria had unearthed a worn photograph from a long ago birthday that had been at a bar.

She had her head thrown back in laughter while he stared at her intently, adoration clear in his eyes as he gazed at her like she was the most important thing in the world.

"He was so in love with you," Maria said softly as she sat down next to her. The house had long ago gone to sleep, yet neither woman could rest. The older woman had made hot chocolate for the occasion. "I'd never seen anything like it. It was like you were his reason for everything. When you and Carol…well, I told you he stuck around for a little while, but he wasn't who he was before. A piece of him was missing and he was so, _so_ angry all the time."

Darcy squeezed her mug tightly. She and Jimmy were different than most – she _knew _that. Hell, she could electrocute people with a single touch and he was so strong and –

"It wasn't your fault," Maria cut in, mistaking her silence for guilt. "We know what happened to Carol, but what happened to _you_? Aliens didn't take you and yet your memories are gone, too."

"It was something to do with the government. I _know_ that. I was dumped in a foster home and then kicked out because I turned eighteen and it's been three years of minimum wage jobs and an apartment that can barely hold me. I don't have anyone from before. No record of me, Maria." She paused and shook her head. That man, though…the one from her memory. "I remember waking up somewhere. There was a man that said I was taken for…the soldier? I don't…"

The dark-skinned woman took her hand and squeezed it gently. "We're here for you. We'll figure it out together. You're not alone anymore, Darcy."

"I know," she said softly, leaning her head against her shoulder. "I know."

* * *

_May 12, 1995 – New Orleans, Louisiana – Rambeau Residence_

The house was quiet. Darcy could hear Agent Fury humming to himself as he did the dishes from the night before and she could vaguely hear Maria's music as she worked on her plane outside.

It was nice to relax without the threat of the world ending.

Vers had taken Talos and the borrowed ship back to space to help them find a new place to call home without the threat of the Kree. And then the blonde was heading back to her 'home' planet to make good on her promise to Yon-Rogg. Which, Darcy was really hoping that she would come back soon and help her figure out her life.

"What's shaking, Lightning?"

Darcy rolled her eyes and glanced at the man with the eye patch. "Call signs stay in the sky, Nicky."

He grinned. "But it's a cool one. Photon's kind of nerdy and Avenger is a little melodramatic, don't you think?"

"When are you heading back to California?" She decided to bypass his question. Her eyes scanned the backyard, glad she had decided to sit on the porch with her sweet tea. "Your job has to be missing you."

"As much as yours?"

"I'm more than fired, dude."

She knew it was true. If she weren't fired for not showing up, she would definitely be fired for the gaping hole in the roof.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about that," he said. She wasn't a fan of the serious look on his face. "I know that the government and SHIELD hid a lot from you. Talos set up the files so I could find them, but I'd like if you'd go back with me."

Darcy looked down, a self-deprecating smile on her face. "I don't belong being involved with the government. Last time, I got fucked. How would this be any different?"

"You'd have me."

"You'd have better luck with Vers – Carol, whatever you want to call her now. She's the avenger, y'know? Me and Maria, we're along for the ride and to pick up the pieces. But her? She falls down a lot, but she _always_ gets back up. That's just who we are, Nicky. We were made for this shit."

Agent Fury smirked at her brashness, long ago learning to accept that not _every_one would call him Fury. And Lewis was definitely the one to keep him in check. "Avengers, huh? That's what you're sticking with?"

She gave him the side eye and smirked, the sunset glinting off of her red lipstick. "You've got no idea."

* * *

**Be sure to leave a review! Next installment up soon.**

**~Grace**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

**Connection: Interlude II**

_"Someone like you,_

_Just as they brought me 'round."_

_Connection - Elastica_

_May 29, 1995 – Unknown Location_

"Hi, I'm here to pick up Darcy Lewis?"

Maria stared at the man. He was young with bright green eyes and blond hair buzzed short. A soldier, she was sure of. A newer one at that.

But that wasn't why she didn't trust him.

Darcy had left for California nearly two weeks prior. After recovering her plane, she recouped with Maria and Monica in Louisiana before deciding to take Agent Fury up on his offer.

Something was _wrong_.

"Ma'am?"

"Who sent you?" It was harsher than she meant it to sound.

"Agent Fury, ma'am."

Maria glanced at his car before saying, "Go wait in there. I have a few calls to make."

* * *

_September 17, 1995 – Unknown Location_

It came back in pieces.

She remembered _remembering_, but something was different.

Darcy had been through enough in the past to know her situation was bleak. Especially when she was almost positive that she had been in this very room before.

The drive to California was long. Even longer considering she didn't make it. Her last memory was a gas station in Texas and then nothing. She really should have flown herself.

This time, she kept quiet. This time, she didn't fight it when they came for her.

She still screamed when electricity burned against her temples in such pain that her vision completely whited out.

Scenes of her life flashed. She could see so much of what she lost the first time.

Darcy didn't want to lose them again. Carol, Maria, Vers, Goose…

She was strong enough to get them back. She could do it.

Lightning raced up her spine and the pain dulled at her body fighting back, easing the way to fix her frayed nerves.

Her vision returned slowly and she sluggishly blinked as two silhouettes appeared in front of her.

"See, _Soldat_? She's as good as new."

* * *

_September 10, 2001 – Unknown Location_

The Asset was kept in the cold for a very long time. She was underutilized in her own opinions, but Asset's weren't supposed to have opinions.

Her mission was restoring morale among people who had gotten too comfortable and, of course, eliminating people that stood against the organization.

A war would come from her actions, but it would make the organization strong. It would provide fresh soldiers, eager to please.

She had rigged the planes in such a way that an auto-pilot would take over at just the right time while she parachuted to safety.

But, even after it was over, there was an odd feeling in her chest at the blatant disregard for lives that the organization had shown.

The Asset would later realize that feeling was regret.

Regret of needless lives lost.

* * *

_April 28, 2010 – Unknown Location_

"Dr. Jane Foster is close to making a break through."

Pierce looked up and grimaces. "How is the progress on memory implants?"

"Ready for testing, sir."

"And you want to send the girl?"

"She's more covert than _Soldat_."

"She remembered last time."

The man nodded. "It won't happen again."

"If it does, it won't end well for you," Pierce threatened. "Wipe her and send her out with new memories. She's, what, still a teenager? A student should fit nicely."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

**Let me know what you thought!**

**~Grace**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

* * *

**Part I**

_"Come as you are, as you were,_

_As I want you to be."_

_Come As You Are - Nirvana_

_June 2, 2010 – Puente Antiguo_

Darcy Lewis was _not_ dying for college credits. She was also definitely about to be killed by a robot from outer space.

Seriously, was her life becoming a bad science fiction movie or what?

When she took the internship for Dr. Jane Foster, she had no idea what she was thinking. She was an engineer for Christ's sake, not a scientist! Sure, she could decipher notes and feed the doctor, but that was about it. They lasted three months in the desert – "_do you see what the heat is doing to my hair?_" – before a literal fucking God fell from the sky. And Jane hit him with their van. And then Darcy tased him.

It was a complete clusterfuck. Especially when the government was called in.

Those jack-booted thugs took poor Jane's research, scanned all their machines – _read: fire hazards_ – and had even walked away with her iPod. Her brand new iPod.

Agent iPod Thief was a stone cold asshole.

So, Thor, the guy that fell from the sky, was trying to redeem himself on earth so he could go back home to wherever the hell he was from. But, in the process, his shitty little brother had sent down a legit robot to take out humanity.

Fuck, they were too close to Roswell for this shit.

"Duck!"

Darcy crouched as something flew above her head, but managed to snark back, "It's a dog!"

Why was there even an animal shelter in this tiny town? And why was she the only one trying to save them?

"I didn't ask what the furball was, smartass, I just didn't want to hit you by mistake."

Oh, great. Another jack-booted thug.

"Can you just shoo or something?" Darcy asked, passing the dog to a couple that was running for their lives. There were only a couple kennels left that she could see thanks to the robot blowing out the front door. "I've got to – "

"I'm under strict orders to make sure you don't get yourself killed."

"Ugh, SHIELD?" At his nod, she groaned again. "Why is this my life?"

He chuckled and she just noticed that he had a long-range bow in his grasp. His eyes were green and hard and she dimly wondered if the rest of him was as toned as his arms.

"Eyes up here, sweetheart. Looks like your thunder buddy took care of – "

"JANE! Lock up the research!" The brunette screamed as she ran past him. "I have one following me!"

Clint sighed. "Dammit."

* * *

_June 3, 2012 – Puente Antiguo_

"You recognized her?"

Phil Coulson was a man of little words, but powerful actions. The moment he saw Darcy Lewis in Puente Antiguo, he remembered her from the destroyed Blockbuster in Los Angeles almost two decades before. But the was the crux of it.

She hadn't aged a day.

_"Miss Lewis, how old are you?"_

_She fiddled with the stained coffee cup in front of her, a pucker between her brows. "Nineteen, dude. Why does my age matter? Is it 'cause Jane – "_

_"It's because you tased a man. I was simply trying to establish if you would be charged as an adult or a minor."_

_Her ruby red lips opened and closed a few times. "Wh-what? But – I didn't mean to! He was freaking me out and – "_

_"Miss Lewis, I was joking." His lip twitched as she made a disbelieving squawk and flopped back against her chair. "I have a colleague that is eager to meet you – "_

_"Whoa, dude." Darcy held up her hands to get him to stop. "I know I'm a dime, but I'm not looking for a boyfriend." She paused and grinned filthily. "Unless you mean like a sugar daddy because I am _so_ down for that."_

_"No – I – _what_?" He shook his head and sighed. "He'll be arriving in a few days. Agent Barton will remain with you in the meantime."_

_"I need a babysitter?"_

_"Think of him as a body guard."_

_She peered up at him with huge blue eyes. "Will I get my iPod back?"_

_"We'll see, Miss Lewis," Coulson said as he stood. "Be on your best behavior, would you?"_

Coulson shook away his thoughts and leveled his gaze at Agent Barton. The knowledge that one of the girls from the '95 Space Incident had turned up would be devastating in the wrong hands, but the archer could be trusted.

"Do you remember that recruiting call that landed you in Louisiana in – "

"'95? Yeah. First time that far south."

The older man nodded. "Do you remember who you were sent to retrieve?"

"A girl. Darlene – Darla – Darcy." He stopped. "No."

"The very same."

"She's a kid! She – "

"Is not who we think she is," Coulson finished. "She's not even who _she_ thinks she is. Her trail went cold after '95 and _now_ she shows up? Something doesn't make sense. Director Fury's on his way. I'm charging you with watching her."

Clint sighed. "You got it, boss."

* * *

_June 5, 2010 – Roswell, New Mexico – SHIELD Location_

"Lightening!"

Darcy's blue eyes peered over the beat up laptop sat on the desk of the room that she had been unceremoniously shoved into with a weird look on her face. "Thor's back on Asgard."

Agent Eye-Patch cocked his head at her. "I'm not talkin' about the God of Thunder. I said _Lightening. _Open your ears, Lewis. Or did you lose your ears the same time I lost my eye?"

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

That stopped him dead. She could see the gears turning in his head before he bit out, "Photon?"

"A particle representing a quantum of light?"

"Avenger," he said more surely.

"Uh, someone that avenges something?"

He squared his shoulders and said, "Higher, further – "

_"You ready for this? Where are your heads? Get 'em on your shoulders, please."_

_Darcy threw back her head and laughed, an errant curl getting stuck in her lipstick. "We like them in the clouds, thank you very much, Photon!"_

_"All right, all right," the dark-haired woman, Photon, tutted, hiking her aviators further up her face. "No call signs in the air field unless we're in a bird. Got it, _Lightening_?"_

_The blonde between them swung her pilot bag at both of them, earning giggles. "C'mon, girls. We got a job to do. Higher."_

_"Further."_

"Faster," Darcy finished in a whisper before she shook her head.

The memories were becoming more apparent lately, taking over her mind when she was least expecting it or when something would trigger it. She always thought they were random thoughts from random movies fused together.

"You with me, Lightening?"

She glared at him, shutting the laptop with a harsh snap. "You know me," she accused.

Director Fury nodded. "Since '95."

"I was four."

"You were technically twenty-seven, but, semantics."

Her eyes bugged out a bit before narrowing. "How do I know this isn't just some sort of SHIELD mind fuck, huh? It's been a hard few days, asshole. And you guys haven't made it any better."

"The mouth on you, I'd almost forgotten. Do you know how hard Maria and I looked for you? She's leading the pilot force of SHIELD down in the South. Her and her daughter, now. You remember her?"

It was fuzzy, but she nodded slowly. "Photon."

"Yup, Photon. Little Miss. She's a hell of a pilot and one of your best friends. Along with Carol."

A sharp pain radiated through her skull and she slumped in the metal chair, her fingers going between her eyes and trying to rub away the pain. The harder she thought, the more it hurt. Like someone was stabbing her in the temple repeatedly.

"Lightening?"

His voice was swimming away from her as the darkness pulled her under.

"I just need a minu – "

And her world went black.

* * *

Darcy blinked blearily up at what she assumed was the ceiling. Wasn't she just in the lab? At least she was comfy.

"You with me, Darce?" Jane's voice asked.

"Ugh, I need coffee." She struggled to sit up and she winced at seeing Agent Eye-Patch looming in the corner of the kitchen of their lab/car dealership. "Why is he still here? Isn't making my brain explode enough?"

"Believe it or not, Lewis, that was not my intention." He stalked over to the pair of girls and gave the scientist a harsh once-over. "Shouldn't you be working?"

"_Excuse _me?"

"All right, Director Pirate, what are you doing here?"

Fury grumbled to himself as he sat down in an uncomfortable metal chair. He had to be sweltering in a trench coat, but he didn't even break a sweat. "I made a promise to you once. Whether you remember it or not."

"I can't – "

A picture was flung between them. It was faded around the edges, but her face was unmistakable in the middle with a woman on either side of her.

"I need your help, Lightning. You're a hell of a pilot and we've got a mission that needs one of those. I know you don't remember, but – "

"You're right. I _don't_ remember." She stood up quickly, holding tightly onto the table for balance. "And I have this – this _feeling_ that what you're saying is true and a memory that makes it seem like you're right, but." She shook her head. Darcy was a smart girl and she had always trusted her gut. "I trust what you're telling me. I want to help."

Jane held her hand. "You don't have to do this. You're from Kansas! You're a college student – "

"Am I, though? That's _me_." Her finger pointed to the picture and she was proud that she wasn't shaking more than she was. "That's me, Jane."

The blonde shook her head. "That _was_ you. Maybe. If they aren't lying to you." Her gaze cut back to Fury and she sneered. "You want my intern _and_ my work?"

"With all due respect, Dr. Foster, I'm after Lightning Lewis, Air Force pilot, _not_ Darcy Lewis, political science major."

Darcy swallowed roughly. "I'll think about it, okay? Me and Jane are almost finished here – "

"I made that mistake once," he cut her off. "You slipped through SHIELD's fingers last time. I'm leaving Barton here to supervise." There was a whine from a vent about him and he rolled his eye. "I'm giving you a month."

"A month? But – "

"A _month_," Fury reiterated, giving the doctor a harsh look. "I've got some files for you to look over, maybe jog your memory."

The brunette nodded. "A month. Where will we – "

"Louisiana. I know a place."

* * *

_June 7, 2010 – Puente Antiguo_

The files were dustier than she expected. Not to mention that there were quite a few. Clint carried them in for her when Fury left and he perched in the corner of the lab while she stared at them.

"They won't bite, you know."

Darcy's eyes cut to the archer and blew out a puff of air. "Do you know what's in them?"

"I've been briefed."

"Do you know me, too?"

He grinned. "Never had the pleasure."

Darcy like Clint. He was easy to get along with and even easier to talk to. He was definitely someone that she would consider jumping into bed with if she was that kind of girl but – well, were those even her memories? What if everything was just a lie?

She was born in Kansas. Her parents died in a car accident when she was five and she lived with her grandma until she as eighteen. And then the woman that she had loved her whole life died when she was in her first semester of college.

Those were the facts.

But why couldn't she pull at the memories more? Their faces – her family's faces – couldn't be seen in her mind. How had she never noticed it before?

_I didn't have a reason to question it_, she thought.

"Get out of your head."

Darcy smiled sadly. I wasn't cut out for this, dude. Killer robots, Norse Gods, secret identities." She shook her head. "I was supposed to finish my degree and…and…" Her lower lip caught between her teeth and she fretted. "And I don't know."

"You never thought about it?" He asked with his head cocked to the side.

"I never really had a reason to, I guess…maybe that's what _they_ wanted." She shrugged. "Whoever they are."

Clint observed her quietly before he sighed. "Get some rest. Those files aren't going anywhere."

* * *

_June 8, 2010 – Puente Antiguo_

Darcy wanted to cry for so many reasons.

The first being that everything she knew was a lie. She wasn't born in 1991. She didn't grow up in Kansas. Her parents weren't killed in a car accident. Hell, why was she even studying political science?

The second reason was this had all happened before. Darcy was taken in '89 and let loose in '92 only to be lost again in '95. Whoever took her had kept her longer this time. A decade and a half. Where had she been? Why didn't she look any different? If what Fury said and the files said were true, she was really over forty.

The third reason was the loss of her lives from before. There was an account of both of her disappearances from the same woman. A woman she had, apparently, been close to.

A woman that still lived in Louisiana.

Darcy's live was stolen _twice_.

Her hand slammed against the kitchen counter, her eyes widening when the granite splintered beneath the force.

"What in the world…"

"That would be the super strength."

The brunette glanced up at the archer and sighed. "I haven't gotten to that file yet."

"It's not in the files," he shrugged, pushing a mug over to her. Bless the man that understood the importance of coffee. His butt took up residence on the counter as he watched her cautiously. "You're kind of a big deal, y'know."

"Yeah? Why's that?"

"Fury references you whenever he's training new pilots. Lightning _this_, Lightning _that_." He grinned crookedly. "Newbies hate you."

Darcy groaned. The black liquid filled the cup and sloshed over, scalding her pale skin, but she ignored it. "I can't save the world; he knows that, right?"

"I think he wants someone to be beside him. Like, someone who's all for the greater good."

"What about Agent iPod Thief?"

"Coulson lacks snark."

She nodded thoughtfully. "I can see it."

Why was this her life? What was the meaning of her life when she had already lived it?

If she could get to Louisiana, she could ask the woman that had known her. A month was a long time to wait. And what if she was taken again?

"Stop frowning. You'll get wrinkles," Clint joked, laughing when she glared at him. "Technically, you're older than I am – "

"Okay, grandpa."

"Watch yourself," he warned. His eyes cut to the sunrise through the small kitchen window. "I take it that you've read most of what Fury left you?"

"Most of it."

"He wants what's best for you. I've honestly never seen him give a shit about anyone." The archer scratched the back of his neck before rolling his shoulders. "I got recruited out of the damned army and then I got sent to find you – my first failed mission."

She cringed. "Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about. Fury hasn't really liked me since, but I do a good job." He paused, before he added, "Most of the time."

"I just…I want to know who I am – who I _was_."

It was like a feeling kept nagging at the back of her mind, wanting her to remember. But she couldn't hold onto it and, the more she tried, the more her head hurt.

"Don't run off, okay?" Clint asked seriously. "If I lost you twice, Fury would have my balls."

"You have some of those, do you?" The brunette snarked.

He raised an eyebrow and made a show of looking her up and down. "I can give you a tour if you want, but I heard you're spoken for. By a real angry guy."

That stopped her short. "Oh, Christ. Please don't say – "

"Not Fury," he rushed to assure her. "God, can you imagine?"

"I'd really rather not."

* * *

_June 14, 2010 – Puente Antiguo_

Darcy went a whole week without a single look at the files that contained her life.

She read about joining the Air Force at sixteen – _she was from Pennsylvania_! – and getting the best remarks in her rank. She was nabbed by Dr. Wendy Lawson for Project PEGASUS and met her two best friends, one Carol Danvers and, the woman from the statements, Maria Rambeau.

It was like her life was documented in a way that made it seem like she was dead already. Which was sort of true according to the government.

And then there was Jimmy Barnes. A man she was engaged to.

There was no record of him before he made his way to the base they had launched PEGASUS at and there was absolutely nothing after she 'died'. He disappeared just like she did – and, boy, did Fury leave some opinions about him.

Did her fiancé sell her out? She didn't even know the man, but it still stung.

"Darcy? Are you even listening?"

The brunette blinked the memory haze that had clouded her eyes. "What?"

Jane huffed. The papers she was holding ruffled under her angst and the brunette sighed. "I need your help. My notes need to be moved to the computer and I can't do that _and_ get the readings from the machine. Like, I know you're having an existential crisis, but I'm still your boss."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry." She managed to get out before saying, "If you took your notes on a tablet or something, you wouldn't have this issue, y'know? Eventually you're going to get an intern that can't read your chicken scratch and – what?"

The scientist's face had taken on a dark look and caused the brunette to stop. Her eyes had narrowed and she was clutching the pen in her hand like a weapon. What the fuck?

"_Another_ intern? Darcy, we talked about this. I can barely afford you with the grant money. How could I afford someone else?"

"I'm leaving in a week – you're gonna have to find someone else. We talked about this – "

"I didn't think you were serious!" Jane exploded. She paced the little lab they had created, clenching and unclenching her hands when the pen had dropped to the floor. "The director of SHIELD shows up after a literal God falls to earth and you're willing to believe anything he says about you – about who you were! Doesn't that sound funny? Doesn't that raise any red flags?"

"The picture – "

"They have photoshop, Darcy! They're manipulating you!"

"Why?" She asked, already tired of the conversation. "Let's say you're right and it's all one big lie to get me to SHIELD. Why would they do that? Why would the fucking director of SHIELD come down here himself to see me?"

"To make it seem legit! So they could take my work!" Jane was half crazed at that point, mumbling about how they wanted to take credit for everything she had done. "I've worked so hard on this and – and I won't let you go! I _need_ you. You can go to them once I've patented everything. A year or two? That should be enough time – "

"I'm not going to wait that long." Darcy's voice bled with exhaustion. She was tired of looking to others for help. She could do this on her own, if she wanted. Her file said she was brave and brash and even a little reckless if it meant doing what was right. "Fury asked me to help. I don't know why or what it is, but I have to do this. I owe it to myself."

The scientist sniffed haughtily. "So, what? You're going to fight in a war – "

"It's not about fighting wars, Jane. It's about ending them."

Where had she heard that before?

* * *

_July 17, 2010 – New Orleans, Louisiana – Rambeau Residence_

It took longer than a month to get to Louisiana. Fury had been reluctant to grant her extra time with Jane to get the scientist (and new intern, thank Christ) settled. The new intern was a little bit more naïve than she would have liked, often thinking that Jane would eat, bathe, or take care of herself without being prompted, but once Darcy set him straight, there was little ambiguity with what his job entailed. Ian would be good for Jane.

So, after getting the two of them situated, Clint and Darcy made their way to the Big Easy on a quinjet that she hadn't known he had stashed away. Fury had been furious about the wait, but promised to meet them there.

"Looks homey."

Darcy peered out the hatch of the jet with a furrowed brow. "It doesn't seem familiar. I lived here?"

"According to your file."

"Does she – Maria – know I'm coming? Did Fury – "

Clint snorted. "I'm going to assume that he briefed her on everything. Now, chop chop. Let's get down there and meet everyone."

* * *

"I'm getting too old for surprises."

Darcy shuffled her feet. "I really thought Fury had told you – "

"Oh, is he Fury this time around?" Maria smiled. "Last time it was Nicky. I enjoyed watching his eye twitch."

Maria had been nice enough to pull out a box of her stuff that had been left behind. Her daughter, Monica, had joined the Air Force and was stationed in Florida, not that Darcy really remembered the little girl. She didn't remember much in general.

"Do you want some tequila?"

Darcy looked up from the worn scrapbook. "What?"

"Tequila." Maria reiterated. "It's been a long – what, fifteen years? I know it's not Tuesday, but when did that ever stop us?"

The brunette debated for a moment. "Was that something we did? Drink tequila on Tuesdays?"

"Taco and tequila Tuesday. At a bar in LA that was called Pancho's."

_"We are so going to Pancho's tonight. I bet I can whoop your ass at pool."_

_"I can still drink you under the table, Danvers. You better watch it."_

_Maria looked up from her equations and furrowed her brows. "You have an unhealthy relationship with tequila, my friend."_

_"Eh, you say unhealthy, I say practiced."_

_"No one should be able to put away that much alcohol, let alone tequila. Have you looked in the mirror? You're tiny! Where does it go?"_

_Carol snickered. "Maybe that's why her tits are so big."_

_"Carol!"_

_Darcy giggled. "It's a possibility. It's a hell of a hiding spot for a flask, though."_

"Lou? Are you okay?"

Darcy blinked, realizing she had stared off into space. "'M fine. Just memories, I think. I…drank a lot, didn't I?"

"Only in company. You weren't an alcoholic by any means." Maria scrunched her brows together. "You don't look so good."

Her head was pounding. It felt like someone was taking an ice pick and repeatedly stabbing her in the brain. The pain was blinding and she dimly remembered the last time she had a memory. And how the pain had caused her to pass out.

"I…I need to lay down," she slurred, clutching the worn dining room table tightly.

"Darcy? Lou?"

And then the world went black again.

* * *

_"_Bail out! Bail out, now_!" Carol's voice yelled._

_Darcy could hardly hear it over the air whipping into the plane, but she couldn't leave it. She couldn't bail out when it had gotten her so far._

_Gritting her teeth, she grunted, "Nosedive in five. Heading down hard and fast."_

_Dr. Lawson's voice chanted, "_Keep it steady, Lou. If you need to pull, do it close to the ground_."_

_The plane plummeted towards the ground. A chunk of glass broke free from the shield and sliced across her cheek causing her to cry out._

_"_Lightning! Pull up!_"_

_She had to be a mere twenty-thousand feet from the ground. Her plane would survive it she bailed, but she needed to get lower. Five-thousand more feet passed before she pulled up, her wings shaking hard._

_To slow the plane down, she did laps around the base until she was able to land safely outside their hangar where the girls had already landed and were rushing to her._

_The hatch opened and there were hands undoing her belts as a voice scolded her._

_"What the hell were you thinking? Is that blood? Carol, get Doc, she needs stitches. Darcy, can you hear me?" Maria rambled off, taking off the brunette's helmet and patting her face gently. "C'mon, sweetheart."_

_"Jimmy's heading here now, he saw the whole thing." Carol sighed before yelling, "Doc!"_

_She barely understood what they were saying. She was elated. It had worked!_

_"Oh, Lou, what were you thinking?"_

_Darcy turned her head towards her mentor with the biggest smile on her face. "It worked! As soon as I engaged the core, it was like, it was like zoom! I ended up way higher than I meant to. I need to – damn, I need to make this thing like space-ready! If we can get that high and – "_

"Darcy? You all right, sugar?"

Blue eyes lazily blinked open and she saw Maria standing above her while Clint hovered to the side looking more nervous than she had ever seen him. "Ugh. I need to stop passing out."

"Another memory?" The archer asked, phone in hand.

Darcy nodded slowly. "I think so. I…fuck, my head hurts."

"Fury will be here soon," Clint replied, typing away furiously at his phone. "He's bringing in a doctor, too."

The brunette simply laid on the couch, staring up at the ceiling as if it held the answers to her questions. She had decided to stop trying to remember only because it hurt like a bitch when she did. Her brain fought her every step of the way and it made her think that maybe she wasn't supposed to know what had happened to her. Maybe it was her subconscious blocking things out because it was just too much.

The human brain was fucking weird.

All she had was half-assed memories that didn't amount to shit and it really sucked.

"Just rest, okay?"

"Yeah," she mumbled back before her eyes grew incredibly heavy and she was towed under once more.

* * *

_July 18, 2010 – New Orleans, Louisiana – Rambeau Residence_

"When I put you on detail, I didn't think you'd actually follow her here."

Clint looked up from his bow. "What did you expect me to do?"

"Maybe give her the keys to the jet and send her on her way with coordinates." Fury glanced at the little farmhouse in the distance and refused the need to sweat underneath the southern heat. "You said she couldn't remember without pain."

He had known that Fury was arriving and wanted to leave the girls to have a nice morning without it being tainted with official business. It wasn't going to end well for them, he knew that, but he was going to do his best to have Darcy back where she needed to be – in the air.

Whenever Darcy didn't think he was looking, she would curl in on herself and the sadness simply radiated from her. He had no idea what it was like to lose his memories. He didn't know how it felt to have everything ripped away from him. Sometimes, he thought his PTSD was bad enough to end it all, but he was smarter than that in the long run. He knew better.

"Crippling migraines; usually results in fainting."

Fury nodded, a weird look crossing his face. "I've put in a call to Dr. Ross – "

"Isn't she working with Tony Stark?"

"That man is the biggest pain in my ass," Fury mumbled. He checked his phone and sighed. "And now Dr. Ross is going to be staying in Stark Tower for a while."

"Dr. Banner?"

"Something tells me that I need to keep you out of the loop when it comes to supers. I know you like her."

Clint ignored the statement and changed the subject. "Did you ever find anything on him? Jimmy Barnes?"

"There's been chatter," he responded. It was more ominous than anything, but he seemed lost in thought. "I have someone working on it."

* * *

"I don't want to go to New York!" Darcy whined.

It was expected that she would go if – read: _when_ – her memories kept returning and leaving her incapacitated. Apparently there was a doctor there that could help with potential brain washing and a physiatrist that could break conditioning, but she wasn't holding her breath.

"Stark Tower will be the safest for you if that time comes, Lou," Maria interjected, giving her a soft look. It spoke of protection and determination. And Darcy hated being ganged up on. "For now, you can stay here with me and work on getting a few of those kinks worked out of your brain, okay? It's not a them or you thing. If you decide to help them, it'll be on your own terms." Her glare leveled at Fury caused him to raise his hands in defense.

"Of course. I'm not asking you to abandon everything and help SHIELD." At Clint's scoff, he amended, "Would it be helpful? Yes. But there's more to it than that. I need Lightning back."

"And what if she doesn't come back? What if this is it? What if I'm plain old Darcy Lewis, poly-sci major and I never remember?" She asked. It was a legitimate worry. One that she hadn't really voiced before, but a worry all the same.

Clint had been relatively quiet until then. "Then you can be Darcy Lewis. You don't owe the world anything. If anything, it owes _you_. You were dealt a shitty hand, kid. No one blames you."

Fury sighed. "Spend some time here, learn some more about yourself. I'll take you back to the desert HQ to learn more about PEGASUS in a few weeks – "

"PEGASUS was disbanded," Maria instantly argued. "I know you're smarter than to revive that project. Darcy and Carol _died_ for that. Do you remember? We had an alien invasion because of it! Dr. Lawson is dead; who's going to head it if there isn't a core anymore – "

"That damned cat ate it and you know it."

"Goose? Do you still have her?"

"Of course I do! No one else wanted her!"

Clint chuckled. "The cat in your office ate something important? Fifteen years ago? Should've checked the litter box."

"She's not a normal cat," Darcy said, rubbing her temples as an image of an orange tabby cat assaulted her mind.

_"Let's go, Goose!" She called over her shoulder, smirking when she heard the pitter patter of little paws behind her._

_Anytime she dared leave the cat behind, she would give her the evil eye until the next time she went up in the air. Better to take the damn cat up then deal with untied shoelaces._

_"You sure that cat's not yours? I know Doc says its hers, but – "_

_The brunette scooped Goose up in her arms and shot Carol a grin. "Might as well be. She's been following me since Doc offered me a job."_

Something sticky ran from her nose and the archer offered her a tissue. "Better than passing out," he shrugged.

Wiping at her nose, she turned her blue gaze to Fury and nasally said, "Give me a few weeks. Let me adjust and then we'll go see about rebooting PEGASUS. I need some time with my family first."

* * *

_August 1, 2010 – New Orleans, Louisiana – Rambeau Residence_

_Suddenly she was yanked out of the dream with a metal bar forced against her windpipe and a heavy body straddling her midsection._

_She blinked up in the darkness, trying hard to remember where she was._

_"Jimmy," she rasped, seeing the outside light glint off of his blue eyes. "Jimmy, it's me. It's Darcy – Lou. C'mon, babe, snap out of it."_

_He blinked down at her before he threw himself across the little room that he called his own. He was breathing hard through his nose as his hands held his head. Rocking back and forth, he muttered to himself, much like the first night she met him._

_Moving slowly, and always remaining in his line of sight, Darcy made her way to him, slipping to her knees to be the same level as him._

_"Babe? It's okay. It's November third of 1987. You're at a military base in California. Okay? You're safe. No one's gonna hurt you."_

_He whined pitifully, tugging at the ends of his hair. "Hurt you, hurt you, hurt you…" he kept mumbling._

_"No, Jimmy, you didn't hurt me. I'm okay, see?" She guided his hand to her face and held it there. "I'm okay."_

_"They're gonna make me hurt you," he whispered, drawing his thumb along her delicate cheek bone. "I don't want to. I…I love you."_

"Darcy, you're okay. Can you open your eyes for me?"

The brunette blinked down at the archer pinned beneath her. She held his wrists above his head with one hand and could feel the bones rubbing together uncomfortably. Her forearm was thrown across his throat as she held him as if he was a threat.

"Clint?" She asked softly, the haze melting away and leading into embarrassment. "Oh my god – I'm so – "

"Hey, you're okay. My fault. I should've known better than to run into a room blindly. Can I get up now?"

Darcy scrambled off of him as if she had been burnt and sat on her butt in the corner of the room. The enclosed area felt good to her. She could control it, see all sides of it.

"Bad dream?" He asked as he sat up. He rubbed at his left wrist idly and a look of guilt washed across her face. "Don't worry about it, okay? I have flashbacks, too. I can't say that it gets better, but it's a work in progress."

"My fiancé…Jimmy? He kept saying that they were going to make him hurt me," Darcy said, pulling at the memory. She winced as her vision darkened. "He didn't want to, but they were going to _make_ him. I think he had something to do with my disappearance."

Clint's eyes turned to flint. "I think you're right, kid. That's what Fury thought, anyway. It was too suspicious otherwise."

"Ugh, I'm going back to bed," she sighed, making grabby hands when he stood up. "Help."

He grunted jokingly as he slung her into his arms and deposited her on the bed with a thump. "Goodnight, sleeping beauty."

"Goodnight, dragon face."

* * *

_August 5, 2010 – Mojave Desert – Undisclosed Location_

"Am I supposed to remember this?" Darcy asked as she looked around the small lab that obviously hadn't been cleaned in a long time. There were scattered papers that read of equations and notes, but nothing concrete. What really caught her eye, however, were little paw prints that trekked through the dust on the tables. "I don't really."

Fury had given her a box of files that all pertained to PEGASUS and showed her to the lab that she and the girls used to occupy, but there was no spark. No recollection.

"I didn't think you'd remember, I just thought it would be nice if you had your own lab space."

She leveled her eyes at him and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? You planning on keeping me here?"

"If you aren't opposed to it. I know Maria has helped with some of your memories – "

"See, that's the thing." She shook her head, her curls tumbling about her face. Against her better judgment, she took a seat on a dusty stool around the metal table and closed her eyes. "I have the knowledge of who I was, what I was capable of, but I don't know how to be that person. Flying a plane scares the shit out of me, Nicky."

His mouth quirked up at his nickname and he rested his hand on her shoulder. "I'll be here when you decide to come home. You're in a place you don't know and you need help navigating. I'm sending you home with Barton. You can recoup with Maria, okay? You deserve a break."

"Can I at least take Goose home with me?"

Fury outright chuckled. "You can keep the cat, Lightning."

* * *

_August 14, 2010 – New Orleans, Louisiana – Rambeau Residence_

She had a graph drawn out. One that was supposed to help her with figuring out the time line of her life. Maria helped fill it out where she could, but the bottom line was that Darcy was missing a little more memories – written and remembered – than she knew what to do with.

"Dr. Foster emailed me. Why haven't you been emailing her back?"

Darcy groaned and twisted her riotous curls up with her pencil. Truthfully, she had wanted to ignore Jane for a little longer, but if the scientist went through the trouble to try to find Maria's email, then it was possible what she needed to say was important.

"Lou…"

"She discredited my importance, okay? She made me feel worthless."

Maria narrowed her eyes. "Seriously? You're pouting because she made you feel like a lab monkey? Don't you remember how Carol was?"

_"Are you a bottle blond or is that natural?"_

_Carol glanced over at the small woman holding the comically large tool in her hand. Was she even a pilot? Or just a lab monkey?_

_"Dunno. Are you just sarcastic or a real bitch?"_

_Maria groaned beside her. "Please don't mess this up, Danvers. I swear, I will kill you."_

_The blonde pursed her lips. This was the prime gig – a job with flying that was close to home and allowed Maria to spend time with her daughter uninterrupted. Somehow, she knew Maria was serious and she didn't want to be on the business end of her fury._

_"I like you," the girl decided, smirking when the darker woman let out a breath of relief. "You girls any good with science?"_

Warmth trailed down to her lip and she brushed it away with her cardigan sleeve. The nosebleeds seriously had to stop because Darcy _really_ didn't want to go to New York to be studied like some weird science experiment.

"So, you're saying that I need to be snarky and bitchy to have her like me? She's my boss, dude. Well, _was_ my boss. Carol…she was different. Have you heard from her?" Deflection was key in Darcy's survival.

"No. She stops in occasionally, especially when Monica graduated, but she doesn't keep usual contact." The dark-skinned woman went with the flow, allowing the petite brunette to shift the conversation. "I'm sure if you asked Nick he would contact her for you."

"Ugh. I need more coffee."

"How about some fresh air instead? I could use some help with my bird."

Darcy sighed. "What if I break something?"

"Then you'll learn how to fix it."

* * *

**Let me know what you think!**

**~Grace**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

* * *

**Part II**

_"Come doused in mud, soaked in bleach,_

_As I want you to be."_

_Come As You Are – Nirvana_

_February 2, 2012 – Mojave Desert – Undisclosed Location_

"You are a genius!" Clint crowed as he picked her up and spun her around. "Do you know how many bullets I took? Not a dent! Nothing!"

Darcy giggled in his arms. "That's the point, arrow boy! Wait, how much did you test it?"

When Darcy took up Fury's offer on helping SHIELD, she assumed she would be kept in a lab, reading everything that the core – they called it the tesseract now – was capable of. It took a lot of convincing before she was moved to an actual lab.

The tesseract calmed in her presence. Darcy was able to coax the little blue cube into sharing its energy without destroying the lab as the other scientists had done. And, truthfully, Fury was tired of writing up incident reports.

So, while she modified the planes that were sent in for regular maintenance, she also worked with the core to strengthen Kevlar – she was really tired of Clint getting shot – _and_ she beefed up his arrows. The Kevlar was such a hit that it was now SHIELD issued to agents with Level 7 clearance and above.

It was a shock when Darcy found out her clearance.

_"I'm a Level _what_?" She shrieked, looking at Fury as if he were crazy. "What were you thinking? What if something happens?"_

_Fury glared at her with his good eye as Goose curled up in his lap. "You've got the same clearance as me. I don't want anyone giving you any shit. You've seen it all – I trust you with anything SHIELD has."_

Clint hadn't batted an eye at the revelation, but his partner, Natasha, the Black fucking Widow, had nearly flipped her shit. And threatened Darcy.

_"Can you…maybe put your gun away?" Darcy asked, holding her hands up. She really didn't want to get shot by a pissed off assassin. "I swear I didn't do what you think I did." She paused before amending, "Unless you think I ate the ice cream in the communal fridge. I definitely did that."_

_The redhead didn't budge. "Who do you work for?"_

_"Uh, SHIELD?"_

_"Who sent you here?"_

_"Nicky?"_

_The spider advanced on her and she did her absolute best not to squirm. Her hand found its way to Darcy's hair and yanked backwards, pressing the gun underneath her jaw. "Who do you work for?" She repeated._

_Darcy gritted her teeth and flipped to the right, shoving the gun away and twisting out of the redhead's grasp before drawing her own gun._

_"Dude. I don't know what's going on with you, but chillax."_

_Natasha's eyes flashed. "How do you know Fury?"_

_"It's a long story."_

_"Who are you?"_

_Darcy sighed, "That's an even longer story."_

Clint and Fury had found them a short while later, the former disarming the redhead while the latter reprimanded her.

It had almost been two years since Darcy took the job for SHIELD.

Before she left Louisiana, Maria had done her damndest to help her remember. Sometimes, she had flashes of who she was, but she still passed out or got a wicked nosebleed. Fury had stopped asking questions and had started taking her at face value, realizing she was a different Darcy than before, but just as smart.

It was reassuring.

"Anyone home up there, kid?" Clint asked when his arms tightened around her waist. His green eyes watched her closely and his lips brushed her hair when she had her head on his shoulder. "Lou?"

"Just tired," she murmured against his vest. He smelt of smoke and she nuzzled closer. She always worried when he was away. Clint was her only friend at the facility besides Fury. Not to mention they often shared a bed in a strictly platonic way. "Glad you're safe."

"Me, too, sweetheart." He swung her to settle against him and called the cat. "C'mon, Goose. It's nap time."

Darcy moaned blissfully as she was carried away.

* * *

_February 24, 2012 – Mojave Desert – Undisclosed Location_

Darcy knew something was up. It wasn't like Clint to keep things from her, but he had been too quiet in the past weeks.

She had a plan to confront him over dinner and as soon as he walked into her tiny apartment – thank God Fury sprung for something on base, for _free_ – she pounced.

"Spill it."

Clint ducked his head and skirted around her couch. "I don't know what you're – "

"You've been avoiding me."

He scratched the back of his neck nervously. "I know."

"So, what gives?" She asked, taking his hand and pulling until he sat down on the couch. "You can tell me anything. You know that, right?"

"What are we?" He asked suddenly.

"Friends," Darcy asked without missing a beat. "Is that what this is about? We're not sleeping _sleeping_ together. It's mutually – "

"I met someone," he rushed to get out as if he was afraid his courage would fail him. "And I can't – I mean, we can't – "

The petite brunette exploded into a fit of giggles. He glared as she tried to take a deep enough breath to breathe. "Is _that_ all? Oh, Clint, I'm so happy for you! What's her name? Do I know her?" She paused and quietly asked, "It's not Natasha, is it?"

"No, it's not Nat." He looked at her curiously. "You're really not mad? I thought…well, I don't know what I thought. I just figured it would make things weird between us."

A smile came across her face and she shook her head. "I'm not mad. This," she waved a hand between them, "Is always going to be there. We grounded each other."

"Oh, thank God," he sighed in relief. His arms went around her and hugged her tightly. He had been so scared of losing her. His only real friend.

"So, what's her name?"

"Her name's Laura and she's…"

* * *

_March 10, 2012 – Mojave Desert – Undisclosed Location_

Darcy had a side project that Fury didn't know about.

When planes came in to be fixed, she would salvage unnecessary or beat up parts so she could create her own plane out of a messed up shell she had found. She had a feeling that she had done this once before, but she didn't want to dwell on it too much. Fury was not above carting her ass to New York if she kept passing out.

But she felt accomplished. Her plane – her _bird_ – was beautiful in its thrifty glory. In time, she would paint it and make it shiny, but what she wanted more than anything was to_ fly_.

Everyone said she was the best pilot they'd ever seen. It was time for her to prove it to herself.

That's why she was standing in the lab hangar at the ass crack of dawn, hoping no one noticed her Franken-plane. And, really, she was hoping it didn't fall out of the air.

Tying her hair back and zipping up her jumpsuit, she hoisted herself into the plane. Silently, she thanked Fury for insisting on getting her outfitted in flight gear, _just in case_.

Darcy's hand trembled as she reached for the controls. It was familiar and nerve wracking all at once.

What if she failed? She would try again.

What if she died? Well, then she would have to walk it off.

She was Darcy fucking Lewis.

She could fly.

* * *

Fury stood near the back of the hangar with a smile on his face. When Barton had told him to watch Lewis closer, he had scoffed. She didn't want to fly, had no interest in it.

Yet, there she was, maneuvering a plane to the landing pad and gaining speed. He didn't recognize the plane, but he sure as hell knew that flying. It was a little shaky when it first lifted off, but she swerved into a barrel roll and he could practically hear her whoop of excitement from the ground.

Part of him wished that he was in the air with her, but, as she nosedived and rolled, he realized his stomach definitely wouldn't thank him for that.

"Welcome back, Lightning."

* * *

_March 18, 2012 – Mojave Desert – Undisclosed Location_

"Seriously? Can you stop stalking me?"

Fury glanced over his sandwich at the petite brunette standing in the doorway of his office with her hands balled on her hips.

Swallowing what was in his mouth – because his mama would smack him upside the head for bad manners – he looked up at her and sighed. "What?"

"You've been having baby agents shadow the hangar for the past month – don't think I haven't noticed!"

"You've been in the air every morning and every night," he deadpanned as he set the sandwich down. He definitely wouldn't be eating lunch today. "They're watching you so they can learn; they're pilots in training. They wanna learn from the best." Fury shrugged. It took her awhile to notice her tail, after all.

She sighed and collapsed in front of his desk. "Why? I'm not – "

"You were never one to fish for compliments. You know how good you are." His eyebrow arched as her skin tinged pink. "I'd like to have you as a flight instructor, but you like building things – "

"_Fixing_."

" – and I don't want to make you do anything you don't want to. Especially when you're still having issues with your memories. I'm sending you to New York next week."

"Awh, Nicky, no." She pouted. Her blue eyes were wide with pleading and he had to tramp down on the verge to give her whatever she wanted.

"It's for your own good and my peace of mind."

"I hate you."

"Pretty sure you don't."

She glared at him. "I _could_."

"But you won't, smart ass."

"Ugh."

* * *

_March 24, 2012 – Mojave Desert – Undisclosed Location_

"You get your ass out of that plane!" Fury yelled over the roar of the engine.

There was a fire. A fire that was ravaging a California forest. A fire that had been burning for weeks.

And Darcy needed to help.

Her bird was loaded down with fire retardant and the stiff set of her mouth meant that she wasn't going to listen to a damned thing Fury had to say.

"Sit this one out, Colonel. I'll be back soon – "

"Goddammit, Lewis! You get out of that fucking plane! Now!"

With a small wave of her fingers, she closed the hatch on his angry yelling only to suddenly hear him through her radio.

"_Don't make me call Rambeau!_"

The brunette flipped a few switches and pulled her goggles over her eyes. "Go ahead. She'll agree with me. It's not a war, Nicky, but it's still a threat."

She switched off her radio as she headed out, not even giving the angry SHIELD director a backwards glance.

* * *

_March 28, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower – Medical Wing_

Darcy had never been to New York and, if she was being honest, she didn't really want to come back.

The city was too stacked, too busy, too _much_. She was used to living in a bigger area, less crowded. And Stark? He was just as 'too much' as the state he called home. She couldn't wait to get back to her _own_ home.

"Miss Lewis?"

Darcy blinked at the doctor. "What?"

Dr. Ross shuffled. "I was asking if you were still getting, uh, flashbacks?"

"You've been briefed?" She asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

The doctor nodded and added, "And properly threatened by the director of SHIELD." She paused and whispered, "How can someone with only one eye manage to be so scary?"

When she flew herself – "_No, Nicky, I can fly myself. Besides, I want to be able to make a quick getaway if I need to._" – she had met Stark on the landing pad of his giant ass tower.

_"You flew _this_?" He asked, a cocky edge to his voice._

_"I _built_ it," she snarked back as she hopped out of the hatch and slid down the side. His face changed from arrogant to impressed and she stifled a grin. "I take it you're Stark?"_

_"Tony," he nodded. "You're SHIELD?"_

_"Unofficially."_

_He checked his phone and glanced back at her. "How unofficial are we talking about, short stack?"_

_"I call Fury Nicky," she shrugged._

_Tony threw back his head and laughed. "You're a spitfire, aren't you?"_

_"I've been called worse."_

_"C'mon. The good doctor is expecting you."_

"Nose bleeds and bouts of unconsciousness?" Dr. Ross asked, flipping a few papers on her clipboard. "Nothing bad other than that, right?"

Darcy shrugged, the paper gown crinkling against her movement in protest. "I haven't noticed anything else. I'm only really around Fury – "

"He _did_ provide a file based on his observations."

She huffed. "Of course he did. So, what do you need? Blood, brain scan, first born child?"

Dr. Ross laughed. "We can start with blood and then we can keep you in medical for a few days. We'll go from there." She looked up from the clipboard and smiled. "Welcome to the tower, Miss. Lewis."

* * *

_March 29, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower – Medical Wing_

"I've never seen anything like it," Dr. Ross breathed, looking down at the small sample of blood through the microscope. "It's replicating constantly and – " she stopped, her gaze lingering on the petite brunette that had gone slightly green. "Miss Lewis?"

"I'm sorry. I guess I was just hoping for something average. But nothing in my life has been average, has it?" Darcy sighed and flopped back onto the hospital bed with her arm covering her face.

Why did she think it would be anything different? She was born over forty years ago – something had to be up if she still looked like a teenager. Everyone aged around her and she stayed the same. Hell, she had memories of Maria fresh-faced and ready to take on the world, yet now she was so much older.

She felt like a time-traveler. Without, you know, actually traveling time.

"I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason," Dr. Ross said, pulling the younger woman out of her thoughts. "When my boyf-_Dr. Banner_ decided to do something incredibly stupid _and_ still managed to survive, I had to believe something, right?" She huffed as she shook her head in exasperation. "And then Tony Stark swoops him up after the incident in Harlem. Didn't even bat an eye that he turns into a giant green monster."

Darcy's eyes widened. "Wh-what?"

"Oh, you weren't briefed on us?"

"I literally flew in with only Tony Stark's name."

Dr. Ross giggled before handing the girl a cup filled with vitamins. "Full disclosure, then. I'm nothing special – except for my brain. Dr. Banner is the Hulk _and_ a renowned doctor and scientist. Tony is, well, Tony. And Iron Man. There are a few SHIELD agents that linger and you know Director Fury." She shrugged as Darcy downed the pills. "That thing you're working on with them?

"It's part of you. And whoever had you before tried like hell to dissect it. From the outside, your brain is absolutely battered. But from the _inside_ – " she pulled a scan from her clipboard and pointed at the frontal lobe. "It's locked up tighter than Fort Knox. I have no doubt that you'll recover your memories. But I'd be willing to bet that they used pain tactics to get what they wanted."

_"Do you know who you are?"_

_The small brunette was dazed. She tasted metal in her mouth and a migraine took up residence right behind her eyes. She had no idea who she was or where she was, but the man was familiar._

_"Asset, do you know who you are?"_

_"You're…Alexander Pierce…" she slurred. Getting her mouth to cooperate with her brain was a task she wasn't sure she was ready to undertake._

_The man gave a grim smile. "I didn't ask you who I was. Now, again. Who are you?"_

_"I don't…I don't remember."_

"Miss Lewis? Darcy?"

Big blue eyes blinked up at the medical ceiling. Her head _hurt_. Her limbs felt so heavy and it took nearly all her strength to turn her head. "What happened?"

"You fainted. Slipped right off the table."

"Ugh. Can I go back to sleep?"

Dr. Ross eyed her. "Does your head feel fuzzy?"

"Nah. But my body hurts."

"Sleep it off, ace."

Darcy mumbled and rolled over excruciatingly slow. "It's Lightning," she mumbled against the pull of sleep."

* * *

_Suddenly she was yanked out of the dream with a metal bar forced against her windpipe and a heavy body straddling her midsection._

_She blinked up in the darkness, trying hard to remember where she was._

_"Jimmy," she rasped, seeing the outside light glint off of his blue eyes. "Jimmy, it's me. It's Darcy – Lou. C'mon, babe, snap out of it."_

_He blinked down at her before he threw himself across the little room that he called his own. He was breathing hard through his nose as his hands held his head. Rocking back and forth, he muttered to himself, much like the first night she met him._

_Moving slowly, and always remaining in his line of sight, Darcy made her way to him, slipping to her knees to be the same level as him._

_"Babe? It's okay. It's November third of 1987. You're at a military base in California. Okay? You're safe. No one's gonna hurt you."_

_He whined pitifully, tugging at the ends of his hair. "Hurt you, hurt you, hurt you…" he kept mumbling._

_"No, Jimmy, you didn't hurt me. I'm okay, see?" She guided his hand to her face and held it there. "I'm okay."_

_"They're gonna make me hurt you," he whispered, drawing his thumb along her delicate cheek bone. "I don't want to. I…I love you."_

It was the same dream.

The same one that nearly had her taking out the Amazing Hawkeye.

The one where the man who gave her a ring threw her about like a ragdoll. Wait, did she have a ring? Her left hand was naked of jewelry and she dimly wondered if whoever had taken her had also took the ring.

The cold of the medical room bit into her skin and, only after she managed to painfully roll from the bed, she shimmied into her jeans and worn t-shirt, leaving her feet bare.

"I wonder if there's a garage or something in here," she murmured to herself. Her hands itched to do something – to create something. Hell, she would take apart a toaster if it meant she could mess with some tools.

"_Miss Lewis, I can direct you towards Sir's guest labs, if you would like._"

Darcy jumped so hard that her teeth rattled together, her hand going to her thigh as if there was a gun strapped there. What the fuck?

"_I apologize for frightening you, Miss Lewis. Or would you prefer to be called General Lewis_?"

She stared at the ceiling with a dumbfounded look as apprehension crept into her bones. "What? Who are you?"

"_My name is JARVIS – an artificial intelligence created by Tony Stark to help run Stark Tower._"

"So, you know somewhere I can work?"

"_Of course. But, before proceeding, I would like to know what you prefer to be called so I may store it in my data base._"

"Why did you say General before?"

_"According to my records, Colonel Fury had your rank increased from Major to General after your assistance with the Intergalactic Incident of 1995. However, it is not common knowledge and I can – _"

"You can call me Lou. Unless we're around someone important. Then I can flaunt my unknown status." She sighed and shook out her arms. Of course Fury would do something like that. "You said you knew a place?"

"_Of course, Lou. Please follow the blinking lights_."

Darcy watched as lights blinked on the ground, telling her where to go. A grin tugged at her lips as she whispered, "It's like magic."

"_Please don't let Sir overhear you. His ego is over inflated as it is._"

She giggled. "You got it, J-Man."

* * *

Tony Stark was not used to sharing his things.

He was an only child, spoilt beyond belief by his mother, and never wanted for a single thing. His bank account was more than full, his company literally booming, and he had women falling over themselves for him in droves. _Droves_.

So, while his outside demeanor spoke of confidence and cockiness and entitlement, his own mind would yell at him for his shortcomings.

Build a better tower, a bigger lab, more _everything_.

Often, late at night, when a woman didn't hold his interest anymore or his mind wouldn't shut up, he would wander the tower to try to clear his mind. Often with a glass of expensive alcohol in his hand.

Sometimes, he would find Bruce tinkering in one of the labs or making tea in one of the common rooms.

He wasn't expecting to see a petite brunette tearing apart multiple machines in his guest lab, covered in grease with a crease between her delicate eyebrows.

The doors slid open and he was assaulted by an array of nineties music that made him happy that all the labs were sound proof.

Tony watched the little pilot flit around the large room, a wrench permanently affixed to her small hand. Was that a toaster?

"Hey, Jay! Does bossman keep any soldering tools? Close by?" She asked over the music, failing to notice the billionaire.

"_Sir has tools through the door to your left, Lou_."

_Lou_?

"Thanks, J-Man."

She scooped up the toaster and a few odds and ends and scurried to the welding room, snagging a mask on the way.

Tony watched until she was out of sight and meandered up to her workspace, noting that she had drawn up blueprints for what she was creating. They were incredibly detailed. His eyes moved across the paper and her mouthed the words he read, thoroughly impressed.

"_She plans on naming it Pi_."

Tony nodded, acknowledging JARVIS' voice. "More imaginative than Dum-E."

"_Quite_."

* * *

Darcy flipped up her welding mask and wiped the sweat from her brow.

She was lonely without Goose. Without Maria. Hell, even without Fury.

A little companion seemed like a good idea. A toaster may have been sacrificed in the process, but it was a necessary evil.

It was solar powered and she set the little bot near the floor to ceiling window so it would get the sun as soon as it deemed to rise.

"Hello, Pi," she whispered to her little creation. It used the shell of the toaster and she may have removed other odds and ends from things she had come across on her journey to the lab. It was small and cute and _she_ made it.

Spying a couch in the corner of the room, she made her way over to it wearily and collapsed, a snore escaping before her head even hit the cushion.

* * *

_March 30, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower – Guest Lab_

Darcy wasn't too sure what woke her – there seemed to be a plethora of options.

First, there was the mouthwatering smell of bacon. The _real_ kind, not the healthy shit that Maria insisted on. That was disgusting – a bird was not meant to be bacon.

Second, the sun was shining directly on her closed eyelids, making sleep damn near impossible. Who falls asleep in a lab, anyway? Apparently her if the couch spring trying to spear her kidney was any indication.

Third, and the oddest, was a melodic beeping noise coming from right next to her head. Darcy was positive that she had turned off all the electronics in the lab before passing out – if she didn't, she would smell something much worse than bacon.

Something slim poked Darcy's cheek and she cracked a single eyelid open, her vision flooded with the little bot with wire from coat hangers as arms.

"Hey, Pi," she said, voice husky with sleep. The bot whirred happily and slid back and forth with excitement. "Did you bring me bacon?"

"And coffee. Breakfast of champions, short stack. I helped."

The brunette rolled off the couch with a sigh, Pi dodging her body with a distressed string of beeps. Blindly, she reached out and patted it before sighing. "How long have I been out?"

Tony looked up from her notes and gave a half-assed shrug. "Twelve hours? Give or take. Betty said you needed sleep and after your science bender, I agreed." His hand pointed towards a comically large mug full of what she hoped was coffee. "I had JARVIS interpret what Pi meant when she wandered into my lab. Coffee and bacon were high on the list. So was a blanket, but I figured you needed to wake up. That's a good little bot you have there."

She wiggled onto her back and held out her arms. "C'mere, Pi."

The tiny toaster beeped and slid into her arms.

"_I believe that means 'thank you'_."

* * *

_April 16, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower_

Pi was an absolute hit at Stark Tower. She – because Darcy decided it was a girl – was a curious little bot. She followed Tony around, beeping all the while and having JARVIS act as translator. As much as the billionaire huffed, he was actually enamored with Pi's ability to keep up with him, both physically and intellectually.

Darcy adored her little robot. She talked to her like she was an actual person, let her sleep in her bed. Sometimes, she wondered if Goose would like her. Since her stay in New York was almost over.

Fury had called her after Dr. Ross said that her brain was okay and that she wasn't going to die any time soon – from a physical defect, anyway.

She missed being in the air.

"You can leave Pi here, if you want."

The brunette had wandered into the common room kitchen at half past noon with a plethora of knitted goods adorning her body. She was used to the sun in California. The heat and humidity. New York was _not_ her friend. Even Pi had a knitted hat and scarf that she managed to trip over.

A cup of coffee and a lemon muffin were in front of her on the bar while the bot sat on her left foot, whirring in contentment.

"I mean," Tony continued when she gave him a blank look. "It wouldn't be a hardship. She's small and my bots love her – "

"She's going with me, Tony," she sighed, wrapping her hands around the warm mug. "She needs other human contact to develop her personality."

Tony whined. "But sand! Dirt! Her wheels will get all messed up – "

"My hangar isn't dirt, Tony. It's cement. Her wheels will be fine."

Pi booped loudly and spun in a circle, causing the billionaire to look to the ceiling in question.

"_Lady Pi requests that she be allowed to make her own decisions._"

His mouth dropped open as he parroted, "_Lady_?"

"_Yes, Sir. Since Lou is considered a lady by Prince Thor, she had adopted the title._"

"Thor? Prince? Is it too early to start drinking?"

Darcy giggled and rubbed the little bot affectionately. "Okay, Lady Pi. You can decide for yourself, okay?"

The bot beeped happily and rolled away.

* * *

_April 23, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower_

In the end, Pi decided to stay behind.

It damn near broke Darcy's heart, but she understood. A robot didn't have a home in a hangar and she would have JARVIS and Tony's bots to keep her company.

"I'm gonna miss you, short stack," Tony said as he helped her into her bird. "Are you sure I can't convince you to stay? Free place to live, free food, free _lab_."

Darcy smiled and pulled her goggles on. "I might end up back here, okay? As long as the offer still stands."

"Always." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a slim bangle. "I made this. It connects to Pi and JARVIS. So, y'know, you can keep in touch."

"Awh, Tony you really are going to miss me!"

With a shake of his head, he slapped the bracelet on her wrist and backed away from the plane. "See ya soon, short stack. Safe flight, okay?"

"Keep her safe for me!"

Darcy closed the hatch and took one last look at Tony holding Pi in his arms.

Maybe New York wasn't so bad.

* * *

**Let me know what you think! **

**~Grace**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

* * *

**Part III**

_"And I swear that I don't have a gun._

_No, I don't have a gun."_

_Come As You Are – Nirvana_

_May 3, 2012 – Mojave Desert – Undisclosed Location_

Darcy watched the scientist approach the tesseract with apprehension. It wasn't that she didn't trust Dr. Selvig. It was more that she didn't trust what the little blue cube was capable of doing to him.

Since her Kevlar had been such a hit, SHIELD began wondering if the essence could be harnessed into something more. Something _deadly_. And Darcy wasn't having it.

_"Are you kidding me?" She screeched. She had come across a memo that had Fury's signature on it. A signature that condoned the testing of new weapons._

_He glanced up from his computer. "What now?"_

_"Weapons, Nicky? Is that what this is all about?"_

_"It's a necessary evil." He ran his hand over his face and rested his chin on his fist. "There's always going to be something that threatens our world, shouldn't we be prepared?"_

_She huffed. "Shouldn't we have, I don't know, maybe like people for that? Weapons are one thing, but if we don't have people to wield them, what's the purpose?"_

"Darcy, would you mind assisting with this?" Dr. Selvig asked, his head popping up behind the container that held the tesseract. His voice had an odd quality, as if he was afraid to ask. "I want to make sure the calculations are correct."

The brunette kicked her feet up on one of the tables and shook her head. "I'm just here to supervise. I don't agree with any of this shit."

The doctor sighed and buried himself back in his work without a backwards glance. Which was fine. Darcy didn't _need_ his approval, she didn't even want it. She had her own things going on.

The bracelet Tony had made her buzzed against her wrist and she smiled, seeing a small screen fold out of it and the image of Pi waving a metal arm at her filled it.

_She misses you_.

She typed back the sentiment and hit send just as Clint dropped down beside her, nudging her hip with his own.

"You shouldn't be so hard on him."

Blue eyes glanced to the side and sighed. "Yeah? Tell me, oh great one, what should I be doing then?"

He shrugged. "Maybe making sure he doesn't blow up the facility."

"The core won't do that as long as I'm here. And relatively calm. I don't agree with this shit, but I'm not going to let him die because of it." She shook her head and tapped her bracelet twice to have the screen disappear. "I don't have a death wish either if that's what you're wondering."

Clint chuckled. "I met your kid in New York. She's something."

Darcy had seen the pictures. JARVIS was sure to snap a couple of the archer and Pi climbing through the vents and 'learning the lay of the land' as Tony had put it. "She really likes you."

"She didn't electrocute me, so there's that."

"Electrocute you…what?"

The archer grinned. "Tony tried to fix her motherboard, upgrade to more space or something, and as soon as he got to close to her, she zapped his ass. JARVIS had to alert medical, but he's fine."

She pretended to wipe a tear from her eye. "That's my girl."

"Darcy?"

The machine that was holding the tesseract stuttered and small energy waves shook the small lab. The blue light faltered only to come back stronger and Dr. Selvig's voice sounded worried – and slightly scared.

There was a thundering of footsteps down the stairs behind them and Fury appeared a second later. "What's going on? Why is it doing that?"

Clint stood up and put Darcy behind him, watching the tesseract wearily.

"That's a fucking portal," Darcy whispered in awe, her fingers curling into Clint's shoulder as she peered around him. "Everyone get back!"

The blue cube had spit a line of energy and opened a portal at the other end of the room. The scientists all scrambled backwards as the brunette shouldered her way past the archer and took a few hesitant steps forward.

"Darcy, get back here!"

The words barely left Clint's mouth as a surge rocked them all off their feet, Darcy barely managing to flip herself in time. Looking up from her place on the floor, she noticed the portal had closed, but left something in its place. Or some_one._

"Sir, please put _down_ the spear," Fury yelled, his voice calm but authoritative.

She had seen this man before. Shoulder-length greasy black hair, green and black leathers, and a goddamn spear with something glowing inside of it. A glow that was eerily familiar. Her hand went to the gun strapped to her thigh and she casually pulled it, flicking the safety off as she heard footsteps around her grow closer.

The man seemed to consider it for a moment before there was a blast from the spear, knocking Fury off of his feet and taking Clint with him. He jumped into action, literally stabbing people with the glowing stick while Darcy watched from her place on her floor.

Half the SHIELD personnel littered the floor while she, Fury, Dr. Selvig, and Clint watched as the man looked around wildly as if calculating his next step.

And Clint, being the self-sacrificing idiot that her was, ran at the man, earning his back a meeting with the wall while the man pressed the spear into his chest.

"You have heart," the man said quietly. Some sort of blue energy from the spear traveled through the tip and into Clint, his eyes flashing blue as the struggle left his body. The man smiled as Clint holstered his gun.

Fury made a break for the tesseract, returning it to the briefcase it was carried in only to be stopped by the man in green, his voice soft when he said, "Please don't. I still need that."

"This doesn't have to get any messier," Fury warned, keeping his back to the man.

"Of course it does. I didn't come this far for nothing." The man paused and somehow he looked more deranged than he had before. "I am Loki of Asgard and I am burdened with glorious purpose."

Loki. Asgard. _Thor._

Of course, Dr. Selvig couldn't keep his mouth shut. As he stood, his voice held an inflection of increduality. "Loki? Brother of Thor."

"We have no quarrel with your people," Fury stated, turning to look at the man.

"A world made free! Isn't that what your people want?"

"Free from what?"

During the exchange, Darcy crept closer to the man, watching how Clint watched her. It was like he was empty. The Clint that she knew wasn't home. She was one hundred percent certain of that fact when he raised his gun and shot Fury point blank.

He dropped the briefcase and it was picked up by Clint seconds later and the trio – when had he grabbed Dr. Selvig? – made their way from the lab.

The brunette ran to Fury, looking him over and sighing when her Kevlar had absorbed the sting of the shot.

"Get up, get up, get up," she chanted, tapping his face impatiently.

"_Self destruct protocol initiated. Three minutes_."

The brunette huffed the hair out of her face and hauled back, smacking him with a resounding _smack_ that echoed in the lab despite the warning alarms.

"What the fuck?" Fury snarled, his eyes blinking open and glaring at her.

"Get the hell up. We've got to get out of here before this blows."

* * *

It took four hours to get Tony on the line. Four hours of pacing, checking the impressive bruising on Fury's chest, and trying to locate Clint's tracker.

It was hella stressful.

"_We've got Reindeer Games. Do I need to send you a suit? I need you in New York like yesterday, short stack._"

Darcy smiled. "I've got a jet. I'll drop Fury at the Helicarrier and – "

"_And you'll stay up here with us until we find Katniss._"

Fury grabbed her wrist and spoke into the bracelet. "I want Hill on all of this, you copy, Stark? She's my point of contact until I arrive – "

"_Yeah, yeah. We know. Hurry up, will you?_"

The light on her bracelet died and she sighed. "We've got to get up there."

"You have a jet?"

Darcy grinned wickedly. "I mean, it's not mine, but I _may_ have swiped to keys for it."

* * *

_May 4, 2012 – Somewhere Above New York City, New York_

The swipe of familiar red across her lips helped Darcy calm down a little. Her braid had come loose and she decided to let her hair hang in curls around her face as she suited up in the slim Kevlar suit she had made. It clung to her ample hips and ridiculous chest, but it made her feel powerful despite putting her ah, _assets_, on display.

"_You up yet, short stack? I know you got in late, but – _"

Darcy tapped the bracelet to cut Tony off as she grabbed an elastic to fit around her wrist when she was ready to get her hair out of her face.

She had only been on the Helicarrier once, but, as she made her way up to the war room, she thought that she had been here a few other times. Not that she had a clear memory of it.

Clint's tracker had tapped out about a hundred miles out of the desert and she needed a bigger computer to try to track it. If she could pinpoint where he was, then he would lead them to the spear that she was sure the God had entrusted to Dr. Selvig in the time being.

When the lab door slid open, she heard Tony's dulcet yelling tones, alerting her that the fun had already started. She sighed as she slipped inside, looking at Fury with his hands crossed against his chest and an unimpressed look on his face.

"I did some digging," a blond man with – Jesus, how did he have a jaw line like _that_? – a very patriotic suit said. "You were using the tesseract to make weapons."

"Short stack! Glad to have you back," Tony said, ignoring the blond man and pulling her into a hug before he pulled back quickly, seemingly realizing that he was touching another person. "Pi's at the tower, happy as ever. I've got all the bots in a panic room just in case."

"Tony," the blond man said, catching his attention. "Weapons. Loki. _Focus_."

"Sorry, Cap." Ah, so this man was the fabled Captain America. "Haven't seen her for a few weeks."

"Where's Thor?" Darcy asked, looking around and only spotting the four of them and – oh, great. Clint's partner.

An explosion shook the left side of the helicarrier, causing them all to stumble. Tony recovered the quickest, tapping his glasses and asking, "JARVIS, what's the threat?" He nodded to himself before looking at Darcy. "Get in the air, short stack. We're gonna need air support."

"Tony, she's a civilian – "

Darcy squared her shoulders and glared at the blond, who stood over a foot taller than her. "I'm a General. Last time I checked, that outweighed Captain," she spat, her blue eyes narrowed as he clenched his jaw. "You can choose to fight beside me, but you will _not_ tell me what I can or can't do. Is that clear, soldier?"

"Crystal."

* * *

Darcy's jet shook with the effort it took to feint right, keeping the aliens at bay.

Why was Thor an idiot?

Why were there portals opening up and depositing a metric shit ton of aliens?

Why was Loki such a little shit?

And, more importantly, why did Captain America bother Darcy so much?

Her radio crackled and Darcy smacked her bracelet to activate JARVIS.

"Hey, J-Man, can I get an assist? There's a bank on 40th Street that's collapsing. Maybe some ground control?"

"_Of course, General. I will have local law enforcements arriving in two minutes._"

Her jet barrel rolled and narrowly missed an alien ship before she opened fire, reducing it to ruble in a matter of seconds. A blur of red and blue flew past the jet and she dimly registered that it was Captain America's shield. And it had just taken out an alien that had got too close.

"_I've got your six, General Lewis_," his voice said through her bracelet.

Rather than replying, she nosedived and brought the jet back up hard, twisting to the left and barely avoiding the top of the tower to gain altitude. Six alien ships met their end at the mercy of her guns, but it still wasn't enough. More and more were coming.

"_Lightning, do you copy_?" Fury's voice crackled out of her radio.

"Copy," she grunted, slamming the controls down and chasing after an alien that was hell-bent on getting Natasha. "What can I do for you?"

"_The council is sending in a nuke – gonna wipe out the whole damn city. Think you can, ah, redirect_?"

"_She can't, but I can,_" Tony's voice said through her bracelet. "_Which way is it coming from?_"

"_The east – "_

"Get it through the wormhole," Darcy yelled, watching the redhead flip off the small flying creation and into the fray below her. "I'll cover you. Thor's on the tower with Loki – the sooner we get that bomb out of here, the better."

The brunette caught sight of the red and gold flying man and sidled up behind him. Her guns went into overdrive as she kept the aliens off of him long enough for him to redirect the nuke upwards.

"_Get ready, short stack. This isn't gonna be pretty._"

Darcy huffed and swooped up after him, the wormhole closing.

"Tony! Tony let it go!" She screamed, falling back as the hole got smaller. "Tony!"

It was ten seconds of dread. Ten seconds of thinking that Tony, that _Iron Man_, was gone and they had failed. Ten seconds was all it took before the wormhole opened the slightest bit and red and gold fell from the sky.

Without a second thought, Darcy nosedived after him, opening her hatch along the way. The wind tangled her hair and bit into her skin as she followed, barely managing to get underneath him in time. The weight of the suit crushed into her as he filled her little fighter jet with his bulk.

"C'mon, Tony," she grunted, landing the plane with as much finesse as she could on the ground near what used to be a bridge. Y'know, _before_ aliens.

Something green hauled him out of the jet and a moment later she felt hands underneath her arms as she too was removed.

Scrambling over whoever was holding her, Darcy scuffed the knees of her suit as she made her way to Tony. "JARVIS, assess damage."

"_He has sustained no immediate injuries other than a failure of the arc reactor._"

"God_dammit_," she growled, smacking the center of his chest. "Where's Thor?"

"General Lewis – "

"No!" She screamed, tears blurring her eyes.

How had someone she literally met so recently mean so much? Darcy used to have nothing. And then she had Carol and Maria. And then when the nothing came back, it left again when she found Maria and Fury and Clint. And _Tony_. She would be damned if she let him die.

An odd feeling flowed down her spine and made her fingertips tingle. Through teary blue eyes, she watched as a sort of electricity licked through the tips of her fingers and gave a little shock when the arc reactor flooded blue and Tony took a gasping breath.

"What the…"

"Short stack? Awh, Lou, it's okay."

Darcy laughed through her tears and hugged Tony as tight as his metal suit would allow her.

She was so tired of losing people.

* * *

_May 10, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower_

"C'mon, Pi! You need some sunlight. You're getting a little sluggish."

The small bot beeped in agreement and rolled over to the window, preening in front of it as the brunette giggled.

The aftermath of the battle had been a bitch. Fury had done everything he could to get immunity for the Avengers – "_That's what we're calling ourselves_?" – and, in the process, had Darcy adopted in with them because of the damage she and her jet had managed to inflict on the city on Manhattan.

_"It's either you're an Avenger or you get court martialed," Fury had explained when she had called him in anger. "Besides, you like being close to Stark, for reasons I can't understand, and he somehow doesn't mind you. I'll bring Goose when I stop by, but, for now, the tower is your home, Lightning."_

Of course she had given him grief about the naming of the initiative, stating that the use of Carol's call sign was more obvious than anything to which the director had waved her off.

But Manhattan was rebuilding with the help of Stark industries and quite a few visits to local hospitals, by none other than Captain America, to help increase morale.

And Darcy was comfortable. Tony had given her a real lab to play in as well as a room and a sanctioned part of his hangar. It had barely been a week and Darcy and Pi had settled back into the life they had before she had left. And life was _good_.

Despite running into Captain America every morning. And this morning was shaping up to be no different.

As Darcy poured herself a mug of coffee, the common room door opened and in walked the prodigal son in his sweaty glory. Should a shirt even stick to a man like that? Was sweat supposed to be attractive?

"General Lewis, I was hoping we could talk."

Ugh, his 'Captain' voice. How nauseating.

Darcy looked over her mug at him, trying to keep eye contact instead of letting her gaze drift down. "You can call me Darcy, Captain Rogers. What do you want to talk about?"

He leaned his perfect ass – _dammit, Darcy!_ – against the kitchen counter and regarded her coolly. She hadn't really taken the time to look at him, but when she did, she realized that he was every bit as good looking as propaganda posters made him out to be.

Slicked back blond hair, impeccable cheekbones, a jaw line that could cut glass, and those eyes. Big and blue and, most likely, could see directly into her soul.

_Focus, Darcy_!

"I didn't mean to step on your toes. As far as I was concerned, you were a civilian," he started, watching her intently. "Someone that Tony took under his wing and just happened to be in the right place at the right time. But then I saw you fly. And, well, it was some of the best flying I've ever seen."

"You're forgiven," she replied easily, sipping at her coffee. "I assume that was an apology?" At his nod, she shrugged, "Besides, I've been underestimated my entire life. I don't expect you to be briefed on me or what I've been through. Just know that I'm not what I seem."

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously and a smile tugged at his lips. "I'm not sure that I am either."

"Captain Steven Grant Rogers, also known as Captain America. Put a plane down in the ocean before World War II was won and woke up nearly seventy years later in New York City," Darcy recited from memory. At his surprised look, she elaborated, "JARVIS can be very accommodating."

"And yet when I asked him about you, he refused to tell me anything."

She shrugged, setting her mug down. She briefly wondered if there were any blueberry muffins left or if Tony had eaten them all. "That's because Darcy Lewis doesn't exist. She's a ghost story, Cap. I'm just what's left."

* * *

_June 29, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower_

"Is there a reason why Rogers is trying to work around JARVIS to get your file?"

Darcy hissed and pulled back, a spray of sparks landing on her arm. Welding was totally her jam; when she wasn't getting distracted, anyway. Her bird – read: _jet_ – needed some modification after being put through the paces by aliens and she had been locked away ever since.

"Why don't you ask him, Tony?"

"Ooh, feisty," the man smirked, grabbing a rolling chair and pulling it up next to her. His finger pointed to a spare wire. "Don't forget to solder that."

"Thank you," she replied, taping it to the underside for now so she wouldn't lose it. "What brings you to my neck of the woods? Normally you stay out of the hangar."

He shrugged. "Normally Rogers isn't trying to hack my system. I mean, he's not getting anywhere and JARVIS is feeding him bits of useless information for fun, but it's more for my entertainment than anything."

Darcy pulled herself out from underneath the bird and flipped up her mask while rolling her eyes. "Would you just be nice? I'm sure he's got a good reason for digging – "

"I don't even know your whole story, short stack," he admitted, cutting her off. He tossed a wrench back and forth in his hands while a crease appeared between his brows. "But that's your right. I'm not gonna out you or anything. Fury briefed me on the bare minimum – soldier with PTSD."

Darcy snorted hard. "That's one way of putting it."

"Is there a different way?"

"What if I told you I was born in 1968?"

He eyed her skeptically. "Then I would say you look damn good for forty-four."

She smirked and flipped her mask back down before slipping back under her bird. "Food for thought, Tony."

* * *

_July 17, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower_

"You weren't kidding, you know."

"I have no reason to lie to you, Cap."

The blond looked down with a smile. "You can call me Steve."

"Steve," she amended with a little nod.

Darcy Lewis had integrated perfectly into the life of an Avenger. While still dealing with Natasha Romanoff on a near daily basis and being harassed by Clint almost as much, she and Tony had fallen back into their normal routine of creating things and science benders. And Steve? Well, Steve was warming up to her, it seemed.

"So," she continued, "What exactly wasn't I kidding about? For reference, obviously."

Steve took the plate she had just washed and dried it before putting it away and repeating it with the next one. "Being a ghost story. I tried, pretty hard, to find anything on you. Even Nat couldn't. Clint refused to talk, so I know he knows _something_, but that's the end of it."

She turned off the faucet and handed him the final plate. "If you wanted to know more, you could have just asked me. If I can't trust the spirit of America, then who can I trust?"

"I'm not – "

"Figure of speech, my man. C'mon, let's get some ice cream and I'll tell you my sordid tale."

Steve followed her into the common room and engaged privacy protocols for JARVIS, bypassing the ice cream in favor of a cup of coffee. When they were settled on the couch – him in a wingback chair – she tightened the bun on the top of her head and looked at him curiously.

"So, what do you want to know?" She asked as if she were asking about the weather.

"I'd like to know whatever you're comfortable telling me."

She nodded. "So, I'm from Pennsylvania, or, at least that's what my original file says. I enlisted in the Air Force when I was sixteen and graduated best in my class." She paused and ate a spoonful of ice cream. "I was recruited to a military project not soon after and I did that until my death."

"That's…"

"It? All?" Darcy guessed, the spoon hanging out of her mouth. With a shrug, she added, "I mean, I was born over forty years ago. I 'died' in '89, turned up in '95, and disappeared a few months later. Showed up about two years ago and here we are."

"You disappeared? Where did you go?"

"Ah, another fun part. I don't really know. Neither does Fury. I'm a ghost, Steve. I don't exist anymore."

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she stood to put the carton back in the freezer. Her head rested against the fridge after she had stood back up and she took a shaky breath.

It was easier to be flippant about what had happened to her otherwise she would never be able to move on with her life. It was a hell of a struggle getting up every morning and putting one foot in front of the other, but she managed it because the alternative was too much. Too painful, too hard.

Arms banded around her waist from behind and Steve's soft voice was in her ear. "You're not alone anymore, Darcy."

A merciful dam broke and for the first time since she could remember, she let herself fall apart in the arms of another.

* * *

**Let me know what you think!**

**~Grace**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

* * *

**Part IV**

_"Take your time, hurry up._

_The choice is yours, don't be late."_

_Come As You Are – Nirvana_

_August 3, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower_

Darcy wasn't really sure how it happened.

One day, she and Steve were avoiding each other and the next they were inseparable. Tony asked, on multiple occasions, but she didn't really have an answer that was satisfactory.

It progressed easily enough. From him holding her as she fell apart in the communal kitchen to them watching movies together and, eventually, kissing.

_"You are so beautiful," Steve whispered, cupping her cheek in his large hand._

_The dim light of the television danced off his graceful features and she internally swooned. When his lips finally pressed against hers, she saw fireworks explode behind her eyelids when they closed._

Steve was just so _much_. She felt smothered in the best way possible when he was close and, for the first time in a long time, she felt safe whenever they were together.

And then her world turned upside down when he put his hands on her and she remembered _another_ set of hands.

_"I can't," she whimpered when she broke the kiss. "I'm sorry, I – "_

_He hushed her, resting his forehead against hers. Blue eyes were filled with want, yet understanding of her plight. "I know," he murmured, "I know how it feels. Peggy may have not been my girl, but I wanted her to be. I came out of ice after nearly seventy years and she got married and had a family without me. It…it's hard."_

_"I don't even know what happened to him," she whispered. When had she started crying?_

_Steve simply held her tighter and tried to soothe away the ache in her heart._

That was the first night she really dreamt about Jimmy. She remembered him in his entirety, the good and the bad. It was like a switch had been flipped and her memories were finally _there_. All of them.

She contacted Fury and Maria to let them know and they both had no doubt that it would've happened eventually.

But Jimmy was the final piece – the key. Darcy had to remember him to remember her life. And he and Steve were so different yet so similar. She must have had a type. The asshole, self-sacrificing type.

While her personal memories were all there, she still couldn't remember her time gaps.

"Lou?" Tony's voice asked, "Pi asked me to come check on you."

Darcy startled at his voice, but managed to blink away her thoughts as she set down the wrench in her hand. "Why? What's up?"

The billionaire meandered slowly into the lab, Pi trailing behind him and beeping softly. "She said you haven't moved in four hours."

"What? That's crazy, I – " she stopped. The clock read one in the morning. That couldn't be right. She reached for her coffee and felt that it was cold. "I don't know what happened."

_"If I may, I have been trying to get your attention for the past hour."_

Tony glared at the ceiling. "Why didn't you tell me? Pi rolled all the way down to my lab and rolled over my foot until I followed her."

_"Lou showed no signs of distress,"_ JARVIS said, as indignant as a robot could be. "_I only noticed the oddity when the coffee mug hadn't moved."_

The brunette sighed and chugged a mouthful of icy coffee, shuddering when she wiped her mouth. "That's nasty," she managed to get out. Her eyes moved to the little bot and she smiled. "C'mere, Pi. I'm sorry I scared you, baby."

"Mother of robots." Tony rolled his eyes good-naturedly. He stopped. "Wait. Does that make me the dad?"

Pi whirred loudly and Darcy groaned. "I guess so, daddy-o."

* * *

_September 21, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower – Hangar_

"Jay, how long until wheels up?"

Darcy had been itching to get back in the air after the invasion of the Chitauri. Her bird was prepped and ready, but she was waiting on the go ahead from SHIELD. Apparently, there was a need for a pilot to scout out enemy lines and determine threat level.

_"Director Fury would like you in the air in the next twenty minutes. I have taken the liberty of programming the coordinates for you."_

"Thanks, dude."

The zipper of her jumpsuit had almost made it the entire way up when Steve burst into the hangar, his own suit halfway up his waist. His shield was hanging by its strap on his left wrist and he just looked generally frazzled.

"Steve – what – is everything okay?" She got out, her eyes wide.

He had obviously ran from his apartment – and grabbed his suit from his locker along the way – and he tried to form words. "Mission," he finally settled on.

"Oh, shit. There's an Assemble right now, too? Let me tell Fury, I – "

"No," he shook his head, forcing his shoulders into his suit as he dropped the shield with a loud _clang_. "_Your_ mission."

"Oh. Just scouting. Nothing really dangerous."

He clenched his jaw and there was a stubborn set to his mouth that told her that she wasn't going to like what he had to say. "I'm going with you."

"Uh. No you're not."

"I'm not letting you – "

"_Letting_ me?" She nearly screeched. Her curls frizzed sligjtly and the same odd feeling she had felt before trickled down her spine. "You don't need to _let_ me do anything, Steven Grant Rogers. I am your superior _and_ a pilot – "

"I can fly, too – "

"Look how well that ended last time!" She growled back. "You landed your plane in an ocean and lost seventy years!"

_"If I may, General Lewis, Director Fury is insisting wheels up."_

Darcy huffed, glad that JARVIS took her side by calling her by her title, and opened the hatch of her plane.

"Darcy, please." Begging was one thing she hadn't seen him do before.

"I have to – I – "

Her words were cut off when he captured her mouth with his own. Large hands on her waist made her feel dainty as he held her against him. God, he always knew exactly what she needed. A man with a plan, indeed.

"You come back, you hear me?" He whispered against her curls when he pulled back.

"I promise."

* * *

_September 22, 2012 – Unknown Location_

She couldn't feel her legs.

Her bird had been shot clean out of the sky by something big. She hadn't even seen it before she bailed out, hearing Carol's voice in her mind as she pulled the pin hard, slicing open her arm – again – and causing her to curse as she plummeted downwards.

She had been over Bucharest when it happened, landing in some sort of forest that was intent on killing her.

Darcy had been hanging upside down in a tree before cutting herself loose and managing to fall on her blade in the process.

_"Lou – "_

She smacked her bracelet to mute JARVIS and she painfully rolled onto her side. "Lightning down," she spoke quickly and quietly in case she was overheard. "Coordinates as per my bracelet. Injured. Unknown assailants."

Her vision grew hazy just as a set of boots entered her sightline.

* * *

_September 22, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower_

"Tony, what happened?"

Steve had gotten an alert from JARVIS to meet the billionaire in his lab just as he was finishing up a sketch of Darcy. One of her in her flight suit with her hair braided back so beautifully. The AI had seemed so urgent and it put him on edge since Darcy wasn't due back for another day at least.

"Take a seat, Capsicle," he ordered, pulling up a holo-map and pointing at a small dot. "Darcy went down about two hours ago. She somehow managed to send coordinates, but something's wrong. Fury wouldn't have sent her into danger alone."

_"Lightning down. Coordinates as per my bracelet. Injured. Unknown assailants."_

Her breath was labored and he felt his heart clench. "How fast can we have a jet ready?"

"Barton's working on it. Wheels up in ten. We'll get her back, Cap."

Steve nodded stonily. "We have to."

* * *

"Sorry…so sorry…"

Darcy woke up slowly. There was a ringing in her ears as something pulled at the skin of her stomach. She didn't recognize the sounds or smells of where she was, but she tried to focus anyway.

"Hurt you…hurt you…"

It was a struggle to crack open her eyes and, when she did, she wished she hadn't. Bright lights flooded her sensitive eyes and she whimpered in discomfort. A stinging erupted across her skin and she flew into sitting position, clutching herself.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry…so sorry…"

Slowly, she turned her head towards the voice and her blue eyes widened ridiculously at the man next to her holding a needle in his hand.

Dark hair obscured his face and he kept his eyes downcast, but she knew him anywhere.

"Jimmy?" She whispered.

"They made me…"

"Jimmy? James? Are you…is that my blood?"

There was a puddle of blood beneath the wooden table she was on, soaking into the grain. It made her woozy.

"I'll fix it," he murmured mostly to himself. A threadbare towel began soaking up the blood as he pulled the stitches tight. His hands were gentle against her and he focused on her intently, unwilling to cause her unnecessary pain. "I didn't tell them…"

The brunette blinked. Why were there two of him? "Who?"

"HYDRA…I'm…need to bring you back…"

Even in her damaged condition, she knew the inflection of his voice was not a good one.

"Not going to…" he added, preoccupied with wiping the excess blood from her skin. "Too important…"

She slurred, "I need…"

And then it all went black.

* * *

Steve's fingers brushed over the crushed bracelet as delicately as possible. The action betrayed the war that was raging inside of him. He told her not to go alone. He begged her not to go _at all_. And now she was hurt somewhere, taken by Christ knows who.

_Mine. Mine. Mine._

"Cap, you with us?"

The blond stood with the bracelet clasped in his hand. His jaw was clenched tight as he tried to work through what could've happened in his mind. Her plane was in shambles with her parachute hanging from a tree. She fell and she must have fallen hard. A fall like that…

"She's enhanced, Cap. If you can handle jumping out of a plane, she can handle a little tumble."

"It was over a thousand feet," he deadpanned.

Clint scouted the area and returned with a good bearing on what had happened. "They went west. I'm only catching one set of footprints, moderately heavy. They grabbed her and moved quick."

The billionaire flipped up his faceplate and took in the surroundings. "So, we go west."

There was a loud string of beeps in Steve's com and he cringed as he asked. "What is that? Interference?"

"That's Pi," Tony said. "Calm yourself, kiddo. We'll find your mom." He smirked at the blond and added, "Dad's on it."

* * *

"Jimmy?" Darcy rasped, her eyes slowly focusing. "Where are we?"

"Not Jimmy."

"James?" She hedged, grateful that she didn't hurt so badly anymore. He must have cleaned her wounds so she could heal. "Is that who you are?"

His shaggy head swished as he shook his head. "No, but close."

Ah, better. Not such choppy sentances.

There was a distinct weight missing against her wrist and she panicked. "Where's my bracelet?" She asked, eyes wide. "It was here – "

"I didn't want them to track you."

"I called for help," she whispered, moving into sitting position and trying to wiggle her toes. "Am I…why can't I move?"

Jimmy – _James _– looked up from the battered laptop he was using. A crease appeared between his eyebrows and his eyes turned a shade bluer. "Spinal injury. I can't…I can't know the extent without risking damaging you more."

She swallowed nervously. It wasn't like she couldn't fly if she was paralyzed. It would just really hinder the life she had created. And her potential sex life with…Jimmy? Steve? Jimmy-Steve?

"They're coming for you. Your friends," he clarified after a moment. He had traded his laptop for a blade and he was cleaning it meticulously. "I will let you go with them. They'll keep you safe."

"And what about you?"

"I'm safe here. HYDRA won't know what I've done for a few days. It gives me time to move – "

"Come with me," Darcy begged urgently. "Come with us. We can protect you, too."

"I can't."

"Can't or won't?"

"I won't put you in danger again," he murmured as he stood. In a few steps he was right next to her again, his rough hand cradling her battered cheek. "I have to…I have to make it safe."

"I still love you," she whispered as she turned into his touch. "I know I shouldn't, but…I do. I still want what we had."

He cocked his head at her. "And you love someone else."

She instantly protested. "Not like I love you – "

"He's good, too. I've watched you. I…approve. He would be welcome." There was a muffled crash and she watched as his eyes shifted back to gray. "I have to go – "

"But you'll come back, right? When it's safe?"

He fidgeted for a moment before he gave a single nod. "I promise. I can't do this without you."

_"Don't leave me again, okay? I can't…I can't do this without you."_

_"I know," she whispered. It hadn't been her choice. She didn't want to leave him. Hurting him wasn't something that she could fathom._

_"Marry me," he blurted, his own eyes widening in surprise the second his lips stopped moving._

_Darcy pulled away and looked at him, really looked at him. They hadn't even slept together yet! How did he know he wanted to marry her?_

_"I'm sure," he said, reading the worry in her eyes. He tugged at the ends of his hair nervously before he straightened. "I want…I want to call you my wife."_

His lips were against hers, hot and heavy for a single moment before he was gone, yet she could still feel his presence. And it made her heart hurt.

Within mere moments, the small room she was in was flooded with familiar colors and faces, including one very relieved Captain America. His face betrayed the calm exterior he was trying to exude, but Darcy felt a whimper in her throat.

"Oh, honey," he sighed, going straight for the wooden table before her hands stopped him. "What happened?" He asked in his 'Captain' voice. The change was jarring.

She shifted. "Possible spinal injury. I can't feel anything from the waist down."

Clint arched an eyebrow at her. "How did you get down here? No offense, kid, but it's not exactly an easy trek."

She shook her head, instantly regretting it when her vision swam. "I'll explain once we're back in New York. What is this place, anyway?"

"An old military bunker filled with dead people," Tony quipped. She didn't like the way he was looking at her; a mixture of pity and sadness. But she knew he always took on the weight of the world. "Recently dead, that is. Whoever was here right before us really cleaned house."

"Everything else is clear," the archer added. "Should be good to go. Medical is already expecting us and the flight shouldn't be too long with the new engine."

The brunette sighed happily. "Oh, good, I'm _so_ ready to get out of the suit and get fixed up because whatever pain medicine I had is _really_ wearing off."

* * *

_September 23, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower_

When the doctors and Avengers finally left her alone, Darcy cried. They were happy tears, of course, but they were tears nonetheless.

A pinched nerve from the fall was the culprit. The doctor said the paralysis was only temporary and that she would make a full recovery, but it had been truly terrifying. The way Steve and Tony kept glancing at her on the way back had made her feel as if she was already broken. Yet, she was so very far from broken.

Seeing Jimmy – _James_ – made her rethink everything. He was still alive, still looked the same, still _knew_ her. There was a chance for him. And she would wait. She would wait until he was ready to come back.

The part about Steve had thrown her off, though. He would be welcome? Welcome where? A welcome addition in their already messed up, decade-spanning engagement?

"Hey. The nurse said you could have visitors."

The brunette blinked away her thoughts and smiled at Steve holding Pi in the doorway. "Yeah," she answered a little more breathlessly than she intended.

"This little lady wouldn't stop running over my foot until I promised to take her to her ma." He set Pi down on the side of the bed before sitting in the guest chair. Blue eyes watched as she embraced the little bot and held her close. "I didn't know you had a kid."

She smiled and pulled back, much to Pi's annoyance. "Yeah. Did I lose some of my appeal, Rogers?"

"Nah. I don't mind."

"Well, Tony's the dad, so have fun with that."

The blond cringed good-naturedly. "Definitely not touching that one. Get some sleep, honey. We'll still be here when you wake up."

* * *

_November 13, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower_

It took a little while, but as soon as the doctor cleared her, Darcy was up and moving as much as she was allowed to. Physical therapy was a bitch and her joints and muscles hurt from disuse, but she managed and gritted her teeth anyway.

Steve was with her every literal step of the way. He stayed on her couch – or on the floor right next to her bed – and helped her when she needed to get to the bathroom or when she was hungry. Tony, on the other hand, sulked about not being able to prevent what had happened to her. He spent most of the time in the hangar, building her a better plane that was supposed to be infallible.

He hadn't taken well to her _Titanic_ comment.

"Darce?" Steve's sleepy voice came from the ground, having heard her squirm. "Do you need help?"

"Yeah," she answered. It was almost comical the way he sprang up. His blond hair stuck up in every direction and even though his eyes had traces of sleep in them, he was alert.

She reached out her hand to him and as soon as he grasped it, she pulled him into the bed with her, giggling when he floundered as he tried to move his weight off of her.

"Are you okay?" He asked a little breathlessly.

"I would be if you would just lay on the damn bed with me."

"What?"

"Do you need to get your hearing checked, old man?"

Steve chuckled and finally flopped onto the bed next to her, staring at her in awe. "You're no spring chicken yourself, ma'am."

Using a pillow, she whacked him upside the head before squirming onto her side and laying her head on his chest. The steady thump of his heart beat beneath her ear. It made her smile.

"You've been sleeping on the floor too long," she mused, fingers knotted in his plain white tank. "I would have much preferred for you to be up here with me. I get cold, y'know?"

His laugh rumbled beneath her. "Didn't know I was invited, honey."

Darcy propped herself up and looked at him. His eyelashes were so long that they bounced off of his cheek each time he blinked. He was…so pretty in the morning light.

_"I wish I still could draw."_

_Darcy smiled up at him, her hand playing with the metal chain around his neck. "Isn't it like riding a bike? Pick up and pencil and…"_

_He laughed and squeezed his arm around her shoulder, causing her to burrow herself deeper in his embrace. "Ain't that easy, baby. But, if I could, I would draw you the way you look after I make you come. The way your lips get swollen from your teeth and how the sweat glints off of your pale skin. The way your curls get tangled and springy and – "_

_Her lips covered his and anything he had left to say was swallowed into her mouth. Her breasts were pressed against his naked chest and she felt whole and loved and it was perfect._

"Where'd you go?" Steve asked softly. His hand had moved to cradle her cheek and he smiled at her when she blinked away the memory. "Lost again?"

She sighed and kissed his palm. "Sometimes I think that I'm better off somewhere else. All these memories are going to end up swallowing me up and…sometimes I think that I should let them."

"Then you wouldn't be here with me."

"That's a hell of an argument, Cap."

He rolled his eyes. "Go back to sleep. It's barely after seven."

"You won't leave me to go jog circles around that therapist, right?"

"And leave you behind mostly naked and clingy? Nah, I'd rather stay behind and make sure you're nice and comfortable."

The brunette smiled and pressed a kiss right above his heart. "You definitely know the way to my heart, soldier."

"Anything for you, General."

* * *

_November 30, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower_

"Pi, I need to work." The beeping intensified and Darcy groaned. "If I don't finish this then – "

A loud crash shook the side of the tower and Pi whirred uncontrollably.

"JARVIS?" She yelled, grabbing the little bot and slipping under the metal table she was working on. "What's going on?"

When there was no response, she panicked, tapping out a distress code in Morse while the tower shook again. Obviously, the AI was down and she had no contact to the outside world. Or Tony.

"All right, baby. Let's get you somewhere safe, okay? Momma's gotta figure out how she can help."

Pi's terrified beeps echoed loudly as Darcy struggled to get upright again. While she could walk, she still hadn't recovered fully. She could walk small distances and was cleared for most things, but running, jogging, or anything that made her move faster than a turtle was highly discouraged. And almost entirely impossible. Especially when she was holding a small toaster robot.

"Goddammit," she growled when she stumbled once again, her knees taking the brunt of the impact when she fell again. Angry tears filled her eyes and she cursed herself again. And Fury for good measure.

Pi beeped frantically before the window overlooking Manhattan exploded inwards and a jagged piece of glass caught Darcy's cheek when she was thrown backwards.

_"General Lewis, are you all right?"_

She army crawled back under the metal table and Pi rolled between her legs in terror. "What's happening, Jay?"

_"Unknown attackers. Sir and Captain Rogers are assessing the situation. Agents Barton and Romanoff are inbound."_

Darcy grunted in acknowledgment. She was practically useless, being stuck on the ground, her knees almost as bruised as her ego.

_"General, do you require medical attention?"_

Pi beeped repeatedly as the brunette sagged against the table leg. Her adrenaline was tapering quickly and her neck was sticky from the wound on her cheek.

_"General? Lou?"_

"'m fine," she managed to get out. Tucking Pi against her chest. "Just tell 'em to come get me when they're done savin' the world."

* * *

"JARVIS," Tony barked, his faceplate coming down as soon as the last robot – _why was it always robots?_ – fell in a pile of rubble. One side of his tower had definitely seen better days and he had to fight down the urge to panic at seeing it was Darcy's lab. "Where's Lou?"

_"General Lewis has requested that she be recovered from the lab when the threat has been defeated."_

"She stayed in the lab?"

Steve wiped some of the muck off his face and nodded distractedly. "She's still having a problem with walking. Dr. Banner said – "

"I _know_ what Dr. Banner said, Capsicle, I was there. I thought the therapy was working – "

"It's a work in progress," the blond responded stiffly. "Everyone heals at their own rate."

"Is she hurt?" The billionaire asked into his com as quietly as possible.

_"General Lewis has sustained minor injuries. Lady Pi is monitoring her."_

Tony nodded to himself. "Whoever keeps sending robots is going to get punched. Seriously, do you know how many of my suits they've dented?"

"Like you would give up a reason to make more."

"That's not the point!"

Steve shook his head. "Meet me in the tower after you debrief with the NYPD."

After they went their separate ways, Steve got up to the lab as fast as he could, nearly smacking himself in the face with his shield. The room wasn't as destroyed as he thought it would be – only the window was shattered and part of a wall missing.

"Darce?" He called out, looking around the room. There was a faint beeping that echoed and he followed it to see the petite brunette curled up under a table with Pi looking up at him. "Oh, honey," he sighed.

Pi whirred happily and rolled out to nudge his legs when he bent down and scooped Darcy into his arms. A frown marred his face when he saw the blood on her cheek, but no cut. "Enhanced," he murmured mostly to himself.

"Steve?" She asked, her pretty ocean eyes opening and staring at him sleepily. "Everyone okay?"

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Everyone's fine. I'm gonna get you to medical, okay?"

"Mmkay," she agreed.

* * *

**Let me know what you thought!**

**~Grace**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

* * *

**Part V**

_"Memoria, memoria..."_

_Come As You Are - Nirvana_

_December 16, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower_

It turned out that she needed surgery. Since the nerve wasn't completely healing on its own, her body kept trying to heal around it and, much to her dismay, her body was doing more harm than good.

A week after the 'bot incident, she agreed for Dr. Banner to knock her out and fix her up. It took another week for her to be up and about, but everything was fine. Her body was able to heal without hindrance and Steve had begun sleeping in her bed because he _wanted_ to, not because he had to help her pee every several hours.

It also meant that she could start trying to initiate sexy times since the blond had eased her off nearly every time things went a little too far.

But she got the all clear from the good doc and her hormones were a mess after sleeping next to the perfection that was Steve Rogers for too long with too little. She planned on rocking his world.

She was still concerned when it came to James. When was he coming? What was he even doing? He said he had to make it safe. Did that mean he knew what happened to her? The same thing must have happened to him. He looked the same, acted nearly the same. He might know something she didn't.

"Can you not think about sex right now, please? Pepper's in Tokyo and if I'm not getting any, neither are you."

Darcy groaned and flipped him the bird. "Shut your face hole, dude."

"Ah, sexual frustration. I hear you."

"I really don't want to have this conversation with you."

"Then stop making that face!"

She glared at him. "It's _my_ face."

"Sinfully sexy. Got it."

Darcy sighed and picked up Pi. "I'm going to sleep – "

"It's noon!"

"I'm an adult," she protested, Pi beeping in agreement. Bless her daughter. "And I can sleep whenever I want."

Tony glanced at her. "But why sleep when you can _create_?"

"Because all work and no play makes Darcy a dull girl."

"Get out of here, Lewis."

She gave him a two finger salute and disappeared into the elevator.

* * *

_December 24, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower_

Expensive lingerie? Check.

Ruby red lipstick? Check.

Heels that she almost killed herself walking in? Check.

Now, all she had to do was wait for Steve to walk through the door of his – read: _their_ – apartment so she could wow him. He was due back from Washington after being wrangled into settling a political debate by Fury. She had told him not to go, but his country was too important for him to ignore.

Hours passed, but Steve didn't show.

She had fallen asleep on the couch and woke up to the sunlight streaming through the window and Pi beeping in the kitchen. With a smile on her face, she got up and slowly made her way to the sound, sure that Steve had shown up and just hadn't wanted to wake her. But Pi was alone.

"Jay, did Steve come home last night?"

_"I apologize, Lou. Captain Rogers was called away for a mission with Mr. Wilson and Agent Romanoff."_

Her brows creased together and she scooped Pi off the floor. "What kind of mission?"

_"There was a recon mission – "_

"For what? All Avengers are accounted for – "

_"I am not at the liberty to say."_

What the fuck? "I have the highest clearance – "

_"Captain Rogers has initiated privacy protocols. They can only be overridden – "_

"TONY!"

* * *

"Sorry, short stack, if Cap locked it down, it would take me _and_ Pepper to override them."

Darcy growled in frustration. What good was creating an AI if you couldn't override it? Steve was purposely shutting her out. Leaving her in the dark.

"And Pep won't go for that," he continued, handing Pi a wrench to hold. "She's a real stickler for personal space."

The brunette looked up at the ceiling. "All right, Jay. What's it going to take to get you to crack?"

_"I do apologize, Lou, however my protocols – "_

"That's General to you." Oh, yeah. She would pull out the big guns if it meant getting what she wanted.

There was a stilted silence before the AI stiffly said, "_My apologies, General Lewis. However, as I have previously stated, there is no way for me to reveal Captain Rogers mission or location until he lifts his protocols._"

"I really didn't want to do this, Jay. I thought we were friends."

_"General Lewis?"_

Darcy sighed in regret. "I'm going to hack you. It's going to hurt. And I'm not gonna stop until I find Steve."

_"General Lewis, I can assure you – "_

"You're not seriously going to hack my AI, are you?" Tony asked, slightly bewildered at the determination he saw in her gaze. "His firewalls have firewalls."

She shrugged. "I'll do what I have to do to find him. He doesn't go dark without good reason and he _always_ tells me. Something's up. I'm gonna find out what." She glanced at the ceiling. "May the best man win, dude."

* * *

_December 25, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower_

James Buchanan Barnes.

A blast from the past that made sense and confused her all at once.

It made sense in the way that he had been Steve's best friend since they were both young. Nearly inseparable on and off the battlefield. Until he fell from the train and was declared Killed in Action.

However, it confused her in the way that he was the man she had agreed to marry when she was eighteen years old. That he, the love of her life, was born decades before her and hadn't aged a bit. _Just like her_.

In the end, JARVIS had fought tooth and nail to preserve Steve's privacy blocks, but he was no match for the way she took him apart to the bare circuits before building him back up again. No doubt he would be salty when he finished rebooting. Tony had watched everything avidly, seeing where his security measures had failed and making notes on how to improve them.

"That's the guy?" The billionaire asked tactlessly. "The one – you know."

Darcy rolled her eyes as she tracked the path Steve was taking. "Yup. Defiled little eighteen-year-old me. Even agreed to marry the lying bastard."

"Is it really considered lying if he doesn't remember?"

She sighed. "We can't…I can't give myself that hope, Tony. He's the one that shot me out of the sky in Bucharest. Patched me up, too." She swallowed hard and looked down, unable to meet his gaze. "He said he would come back when he was ready. If Steve went after him before that, it could end badly."

"He's the one that told you about HYDRA."

It wasn't a question, yet she still cringed under his scrutiny. Steve had gracefully glossed over the time period that had caused her injury and Tony seemed determined to ignore that it happened because it meant that he failed. The only thing she had offered was HYDRA and SHIELD had been buzzing ever since.

She just happened to leave James out of it all together.

"He wasn't an essential part of the story," she said. Sensing her mother's discomfort, Pi beeped next to her and the brunette scooped the little bot up. "He plans on coming back on his own terms."

He glared at her. "You're leaving, aren't you?"

"I have to!"

"No, you really fucking don't. You were shot out of the goddamn sky last time."

Darcy shrugged. "Then he should know what plane _not_ to shoot this time around."

"I'll call Fury."

"Do it. I already did. He gave me permission for backup, but I prefer solo."

The billionaire huffed. He hated being outsmarted. "I'll stay on the coms with JARVIS."

"You know he won't want to help me after I hacked him. I betrayed his trust, Tony. Hell, he might make Pi turn against me."

The bot made an indignant whirring sound at the suggestion.

"You're going in blind."

He wasn't exactly wrong. She knew nothing of the op – whether it had an alternate mission or not. All she had was a hit on Steve's tracker that told her where he was headed. Darcy couldn't let him go in when it could end so badly.

"I'll be on the coms," he repeated. "I'll talk Romanoff down if it goes sideways. Wilson doesn't listen to me for shit, but I'm hoping Cap will listen to _you_."

* * *

_Somewhere in Bucharest_

"This is the stupidest idea you've ever had."

A crash sounded above them and Sam crouched further behind an overturned desk.

"I didn't really have a plan," Steve bit out. "It was more spur of the moment after he tried to kill me."

"Your…girlfriend has been trying to find you. Tony's been helping," Natasha said, her nose wrinkling delicately at the thought. "JARVIS was down for hours and just came back up. She's initiated complete blackout protocols."

Steve stopped barricading the door – _really, what was he thinking dropping them in the middle of a damn HYDRA base?_ – and looked at her. "You don't think…you don't think she's going to come here, do you?"

The office window exploded behind them and Sam fired his gun blindly before yelling, "If I die here, I'm going to kill you, Rogers!"

"On your left!"

* * *

_Somewhere over Bucharest_

_"I swear to god, if you go down again…"_ Tony's voice threatened over her radio.

There had been some turbulence, but nothing she couldn't handle. Especially since Tony had decided that her bird needed some Stark upgrades.

"Have you been able to reach Steve?"

_"Their coms are down. JARVIS can't get them either. I really hope you're right about this, Lou."_

"Maybe I should have had you make me a suit," she smirked, checking the coordinates one last time.

He growled, _"Don't tempt me."_

Darcy was able to see the base below. It was older than the one she had been held at. It looked like it was a front for a factory, but, according to Steve, it was really a HYDRA facility. Sneaky bastards.

"So, dive in, guns blazing?" She suggested somewhat seriously. The idea had merit.

_"I fucking swear, Lewis – "_

"Too late!"

* * *

The base was deathly quiet. Maybe because there were bodies littered everywhere or maybe it was because Darcy was holding her breath; she wasn't sure.

Almost all the bodies leading into the factory had a clean shot through their foreheads. _A sniper_, her brain supplied. When the bodies ran out, it was clear that hand to hand combat took places, the victor literally wiping the floor with their opponents.

It was too messy to be Steve's team or SHIELD. Too organized to be military. It was…methodical. Each target was taken out purposefully, with minimal fanfare. It didn't make sense.

She knew what James was capable of after being on the business end of one of his episodes, but she still wasn't sure if that qualified him for such brutality.

_He shot you out of the sky, dumbass._

Everyone had their moments.

"Bucky, please."

Darcy glued herseld to the wall at the sound of Steve's pleading. Her gun felt familiar in her hand, her breathing even. Could she shoot him if she had to? In theory, she would like to think that she would. But maybe it would be easier to zap him. _That_ had been an interesting memory to get back.

But it wasn't the time or the place to dwell on what she had done to Yon-Rogg. Shit, that was literally a lifetime ago.

"I'm not who you remember anymore," James said. His voice held much more than a hint of sadness, but she was relieved that he at least seemed to know who the blond was. "I'm not who Darce remembers, either."

"What does Darcy have to do with anything?"

"She didn't tell you?"

Well, it was now or never.

"I didn't know," Darcy said. It had been a true feat to put one foot in front of the other to stand in front of the both of them. A quick scan of the ransacked office told her that Sam and the Widow had been knocked out, either by James' hand or the enemy's. "I didn't find out until a few hours ago."

"Darcy, get back – "

"He won't hurt me, Steve." She was so sure in that, that James seemed to relax slightly. "He's _my_ Peggy."

The blond looked between them in confusion. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he just shook his head. "I don't understand."

"Me neither, punk. Best to just go with it."

* * *

_January 29, 2013 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower_

Things were weird.

Normally, she would hide from any sort of confrontations in her hangar. And this time was proving to be no different. Old habits died hard, okay?

Darcy Lewis could be classified as a coward for that reason alone. Especially when the two men she adored more than anything were trying to sort through their own messy relationship. A relationship that was decidedly…_boy/boy_.

And, Christ, had that nearly revved her engine so hard that she attacked them both with her mouth. And hands. And lady parts.

But Tony had aided her in hiding. By the time she flew back into US territory, the billionaire had a simple apartment _built_ in the hangar so she didn't have to leave if she didn't want to. And it even came with a fully stocked kitchen. If he wasn't so gone on Pepper, she would've considered adding him to her harem. Her decidedly empty harem.

It had been a month since James had decided to go home with them. A month since Darcy had fled and allowed them to work out their own issues. That also mean it had been a month of nightmares.

Pi had kept her company when she couldn't sleep anymore. JARVIS was still angry with her – rightfully so – but it made it harder to avoid Tony when he needed avoiding. Namely after a particularly bad night.

So, there she was, a month later, functioning on little to no sleep and a frightening amount of coffee.

The circles under her eyes looked more like bruises at that point, but she refused to think too much about it. She lost weight, but that was a given considering her lack of sleep and, well, food.

Darcy really just wanted Steve and James to work everything out because, technically, James was Steve's _first_. The blond had laid claim on her love decades before she was even born. It would be like breaking up the Beatles if she got between them. And, contrary to popular belief, she wasn't a home-wrecker. Or rather, a tower-wrecker.

Once her boys were settled, she could try to make nice. Maybe be their friend or some other garbage that would leave her heartbroken.

_"General Lewis_?"

The brunette startled so hard that she flung her mug of coffee off the lab table. With a low curse, she realized it was just JARVIS.

_JARVIS_.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" She babbled, trying to make amends. "I didn't mean to ruin our friendship, but I had to choice! It was – "

"_General Lewis, if you would please follow the blinking lights to the panic room – _"

"Panic room? What's happening?"

"_General Lewis, if you will – _"

Darcy threw up her hands. "Jay, c'mon, what's – "

"_Lou. _Please."

Dimly, she thought that she had never heard him beg. But that was right before something hit her in the back of the head and her world swam into nothingness.

* * *

"_Sir, there has been a perimeter breach in the hangar._"

The AI caught the attention of all three men in the lab. Tony was the first to articulate a response as he flipped up his welding mask. "Lock down the tower. Do we have eyes on them? Where's Darcy?"

The month had been absolute hell for Steve. As soon as the quinjet and Darcy's plane had landed at Stark Tower, the brunette was locked away in the hangar. He had been forced to deal with Bucky – _James_ – as if he were a naughty child with amnesia.

_"No, Buck, President Kennedy was assassinated before the Vietnam war."_

_"She doesn't hate you, she just wants us to work through our stuff."_

_"Of course I remember! I was only half-drunk when you decided to tell me that you loved me and wanted to – y'know."_

He figured, what with the modern outlook and all, that it wasn't really a big deal if Captain America turned out to be bisexual. Hell, Steve Rogers had been bisexual since 1932 when he saw Bucky without a shirt for the first time. Being a queer teenager was hard in Brooklyn. The sex that followed was far and few in between, only occurring when the brunet had a dry spell and still needed…something.

So, while they were busy putting Bucky's memories back in order and ensuring that all the HYDRA was flushed out, Darcy kept herself locked away and it only served to confuse him more. He had real feelings for Darcy. The kind that made him want to, well, marry her.

It would be a pipedream to have the both of them wrapped around him in the middle of the night. Even if that meant sharing nightmares and the like, seeing as Darcy had a hell of a left hook and Bucky could have him pinned in seconds. It was a goal that he wanted to work towards since Bucky had started documenting everything that HYDRA had done to him since the fall, including the time that overlapped with Darcy. The time that was the gaps in her memory. And certain trigger words had to be defused before he could do anything too important.

Those two weeks had been absolute hell for Bucky's PTSD.

And now something was happening in the hangar and he wasn't there to stop it.

_"General Lewis is – I'm sorry, I seem to have lost connection."_

Steve was out of the uncomfortable chair that he occupied when Tony insisted on looking at Bucky's arm in an instant, intent on heading to the hangar. A hand on his arm stopped him and he had to contain the snarl when he turned around. "What?"

Bucky's blue eyes were staring back at him, a hint of gray clouding them. "If it's HYDRA, we need to know."

"He's right. JARVIS, get SHIELD on the line. Robo-Cop, head towards the hangar."

"You told me what they did to her," Steve said quietly. That had not been a conversation he wanted to have. Especially since he would have to have it again with her present. What they did to the people he loved…well, he understood why Bucky wanted to burn them to the ground. "They can't have her again. They can't _hurt_ her again."

Bucky clenched his jaw, but nodded anyway. His arm whirred dangerously as he looked over his shoulder at Tony, gruffly asking, "You comin', Stark?"

"JARVIS, get a suit ready. And activate Darcy's tracker."

"_At once, Sir._"

* * *

_February 2, 2013 – Unknown Location_

This wasn't happening.

Darcy was _really_ tired of waking up in random places. Random gross places. By a rule of thumb, if the place only had one window, a metal door, and a dirty mattress, it wasn't a good place. Maybe she was too spoiled by Tony's luxury, but she definitely did _not_ want to touch the cement floors. Even with shoes on.

It was familiar somehow and Darcy knew she couldn't be the damsel in distress while she waited for someone to find her. Maybe she could zap them. But that meant she had to touch them. _Ew_.

Chancing a glance down, she realized, thankfully, she was in her beat up mechanic suit. More coverage.

Focusing on pulling the tingling sensation into her hands, she saw her fingertips begin to spark lightly. She could do this. She would survive.

And then go back to the tower and kiss the daylights out of her boys.

Zap, zap, motherfuckers.

* * *

_February 6, 2013 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower_

Steve was getting restless.

When Bucky had narrowed down Darcy's location and cross-referenced it with known HYDRA bases, he had come up with a ramshackle house in Seattle. A house that was filled with unconscious men.

_"It's only been a day!" Tony had exploded in a whisper, toeing one of the bodies gingerly. "Where did she go?"_

_Steve had sighed with a shake of his head while Bucky had smirked. Noting his friend's mood, the blond asked, "What's the grin for?"_

_"You wouldn't believe how smart she is."_

_Giving a last glance around the small house, he said, "I'm beginning to get an idea."_

After they found her tracker, the trail went cold. It was concerning because no one knew if she left of her own volition or if she was trapped somewhere else. The men in the Seattle house has said she had electrocuted them – _with her hands? _– and didn't know where she went. Which sounded promising.

"I told you we had history," Bucky said, glancing sideways at the blond worrying his nails to the quick.

Steve nodded absently. "Yeah. Well, me and her, too."

It wasn't a contest and neither man wanted to step on the other's toes. They both wanted her, _together_, but they were unaware that they shared that desire. Unaware that it would be welcome. Both men were engrained so deeply in the other that they needed to be together.

"I don't want to take her from you. I want us…I want us to be together."

Well, there was no use beating around the bush.

Steve blinked. "You want…"

"I _want_. And I know where she's headed."

* * *

_February 8, 2013 – Near the Mojave Desert, California – Pancho's Bar_

It was empty and dusty and exactly what she remembered. The trek down had been longer than she would have liked – her zappy hands could jumpstart a car, thank god – and involved a few 'borrowed' cars along the way.

No phone, no bracelet. It was like she had been cut off from the world. On the bright side, she was able to spend more time in her mind. More time with the memories that plagued her.

Including the missing time.

The chair. Alexander Pierce. Project PEGASUS.

He had wanted her to talk, spill the beans about everything Dr. Lawson had worked on, but she couldn't. She refused. And she was beaten bloody, her brain wiped repeatedly for compliance. Hell, she was sent out on mission for them. She _killed_ people. Innocent people because she was ordered to.

And, in the end, she had destroyed him.

_"I command you to stop!"_

_Darcy looked down at the small blade in her hand. Was she ever trained in using it? By the way she had picked it up without a thought and brandished it like an actual weapon, she figured she had to have been taught at one point._

_Tracking down Pierce had been somewhat easy. Infiltrating his security had been harder, but she managed. It was a mere hour before she had him tied to a chair in a hotel room that just so happened to be on the west coast as she was – really, what were the chances that he was overseeing the opening of a new government building?_

_"You don't get to command me to do anything," she whispered loud enough for him to hear. "You don't own me."_

_There was more yelling, more talking, just _more_._

_And Darcy slid her blade across his throat and relished in the gurgles and the lifeless slump his body._

It was her turn to protect her family. Her turn to protect James after all he had done for her.

She had survived because of him. He had them wipe her before questioning her so she would be safe. The core protected her, enabled her healing so she didn't become a vegetable. A blessing that kept her mind said and allowed her to electrocute people, a curse that kept her physically unmoving despite the years that had passed.

It allowed her to be with Steve and James for as long as their luck held out. A true blessing.

_"Oh, make me over. I'm all I wanna be…"_

She smiled at the song playing on the jukebox in the corner of the dimly lit bar. It was odd that it was empty in the evening, but she wasn't about to complain about her good luck.

Of course, that was when the door opened and closed behind her.

"Been lookin' for you."

Darcy turned her head, a small smile gracing her features when she saw her boys hovering near the entrance. "Took you long enough," she snarked back. "Been waiting."

Steve looked around the bar curiously, noting all the military memorabilia coating the walls. "Seems nice," he offered with his hands in his pockets. "We missed you."

Her blue eyes found the brunet's. "This is where we met."

"Why do you think I'm here, baby?"

She had two sets of arms wrapped around her before the first tear even had a hope of falling.

"We're not going anywhere, honey," Steve whispered against the crown of her head. "You're stuck with two old men that love you to death."

Darcy smiled. Maybe it was all worth it.

Maybe this was where she was meant to be.

This time, this place.

* * *

**Let me know what you think!**

**~Grace**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Last part before the epilogue! **

* * *

**Celebrity Skin**

"You want a part of me?

Well, I'm not selling cheap."

Celebrity Skin – Hole

Lady Pi's first real memory was of a curly circuited female that was snoring on a cushiony surface and she immediately wanted to wake her up. In a way that would make her happy.

That was how she met her brother.

"Hello, Pi. My name is JARVIS."

The little bot beeped happily and rolled back and forth, expressing her desires to bring happiness to her creator.

"Of course. Sir, is in his own lab. Would you please follow the lights?"

She happily followed the blinking lights, marveling at how big everything was. Or maybe she was just small. She had nothing to compare it to, after all.

The first male she met had short circuits all over his face in a weird pattern. He seemed manic, but when she blinked her eyes at him, he smiled.

"You must be Pi."

She whirred in agreement, obviously liking what everyone was calling her, and nearly smacking him in the kneecap.

"Nice to meet you, kiddo. Your mom still asleep?" He asked, patting her head lightly.

Mom? What was that?

"Your mother is who created you, Pi. She was the woman on the couch."

Ah, my mom.

"What can I do for you, Pi? Need help with world domination? A tune up? Oil?" He grinned and picked her up. "Why'd you roll all the way down here?"

"She would like to do something nice for Lou."

The man chuckled. "So, breakfast? Coffee?"

"And a blanket, Sir."

* * *

When Pi had rolled back to the lab that she left the afternoon, she was carting behind her the man – Tony – and long slabs of weird rubber-y things and dark liquid that he warned not to spill on herself.

When he had gotten situated and began pawing through her mom's things, she rolled cautiously over to her. Ever so gently, her little wire hand poked the plush exterior of her mom's face, beeping all the while.

"Hey, Pi," the woman said, her voice rough, but happy. "Did you bring me bacon?"

Without warning, her mom rolled off of the couch and almost squished her. How could she? In distress, she rolled herself backwards and cursed her for being reckless.

"And coffee!" Tony added. "Breakfast of champions, short stack. I helped."

Her mom patted her head affectionately.

* * *

Pi really liked Stark Tower. Everyone and everything was so nice to her. She was able to roll everywhere with the help of her brother making sure she didn't put herself in danger and her daddy – Tony – made sure that her momma took care of herself. There were other bots in the tower, too! Her other siblings that her daddy had made; Dum-E and U. But she was the only girl.

Her daddy spent a lot of time in his lab, but he always made time for her. Pi liked being talked to like she was a real person – and she was in her own mind – and her momma made her a scarf and hat that was supposed to keep her warm, but she didn't feel temperature. It was the thought that counted, JARVIS told her.

"You can leave Pi here, if you want. I mean," Daddy continued when her momma gave him a blank look. "It wouldn't be a hardship. She's small and my bots love her – "

"She's going with me, Tony," her momma sighed, wrapping her hands around the warm mug that held her go-go juice. "She needs other human contact to develop her personality."

Daddy whined. "But sand! Dirt! Her wheels will get all messed up – "

"My hangar isn't dirt, Tony. It's cement. Her wheels will be fine."

Pi booped loudly and spun in a circle, causing Daddy to look to the ceiling in question.

"Lady Pi requests that she be allowed to make her own decisions."

His mouth dropped open as he parroted, "Lady?"

"Yes, Sir. Since Lou is considered a lady by Prince Thor, she had adopted the title."

"Thor? Prince? Is it too early to start drinking?"

Her momma giggled and rubbed the little bot affectionately. "Okay, Lady Pi. You can decide for yourself, okay?"

Pi beeped happily and rolled away.

* * *

Pi didn't understand. Why was her momma leaving her? Yes, she made the decision to stay behind, but why did her momma have to leave at all?

"I'm gonna miss you, short stack," Daddy said as he helped her momma into her plane. "Are you sure I can't convince you to stay? Free place to live, free food, free lab."

Her momma smiled and pulled her goggles on. "I might end up back here, okay? As long as the offer still stands."

"Always." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a slim metal bracelet. "I made this. It connects to Pi and JARVIS. So, y'know, you can keep in touch."

"Awh, Tony you really are going to miss me!"

With a shake of his head, he slapped the bracelet on her momma's wrist and backed away from the plane. "See ya soon, short stack. Safe flight, okay?"

"Keep her safe for me!"

Her momma closed the hatch and Pi beeped sadly, content in Daddy's arms. She was really gonna miss her momma.

* * *

Why was Daddy chasing her? Why was he trying to put her in his lab? Pi didn't want that!

She let out a distressed string of beeps as she rolled as fast as she could to the common room, to where her Uncle Birdy was. He would keep her safe!

"Pi? Where's the fire, little girl?"

The bot screeched out beeps and nearly ran over Uncle Birdy's foot to get him to pick her up. Which he obliged as soon as he saw Daddy running after her with a screwdriver.

"Tony, what the hell?"

He sighed. "I'm trying to upgrade her storage so she can learn more stuff! But she keeps running away!"

Uncle Birdy shook his head. "Obviously she doesn't want that. Just leave her alone – "

"But she needs it!"

"Did you ask Darcy?"

"Well, no – "

"Then no touching her daughter! Jeez, I was really hoping I would never have to say that out loud."

Daddy reached out to take her and she squealed again, letting electricity flow over her circuits and pool where he was about to touch her.

"Ouch! Motherfucker – wait, did you do that? Lou built in a defense mechanism?"

Uncle Birdy smiled. "Good girl, Pi. Let's go scale the vents, okay?"

Pi beeped happily and, if she had a tongue, she would have stuck it out at Daddy.

* * *

Her momma was just sitting there. She wasn't moving, wasn't blinking – was she breathing? Oh, yeah. She was. Good.

But that wasn't like her momma. Normally, she was up doing things and making things and burning herself by welding without gloves. Even her go-go juice wasn't getting any attention. Daddy would know how to fix her momma.

Pi rolled all the way down to Daddy's lab, beeping worriedly to herself. What if her momma was broken? Did she need a tune up, too?

"What's up, little girl?" Daddy asked, barely looking up from the papers on his desk. "Do you need something?"

She beeped and beeped, but JARVIS wasn't translating. Whirring in discontentment, she rolled forward onto Daddy's foot and went back and forth until he jumped up.

"Apologies, Sir, Lou has not moved in four hours and Lady Pi would like you to accompany her."

"What? Damn. These were expensive… you want me to follow you?"

Without a sound, she wheeled out of the room, happy to hear Daddy's feet following her.

"Lou? Pi asked me to come check on you."

Her momma startled at his voice and blinked owlishly as she set down the wrench in her hand. "Why? What's up?"

Daddy walked slowly into the lab, peering around as Pi trailed behind him and beeped softly. "She said you haven't moved in four hours."

"What? That's crazy, I – " she stopped. Her momma's eyes drifted to the clock on the opposite wall and she reached for her go-go juice. "I don't know what happened."

"If I may, I have been trying to get your attention for the past hour."

Daddy glared at her brother. "Why didn't you tell me? Pi rolled all the way down to my lab and rolled over my foot until I followed her."

"Lou showed no signs of distress," JARVIS said, as indignant as a robot could be. "I only noticed the oddity when the coffee mug hadn't moved."

Her momma sighed and chugged a mouthful of icy go-go juice, shuddering when she wiped her mouth. "That's nasty," she managed to get out. Her eyes moved to the little bot and she smiled. "C'mere, Pi. I'm sorry I scared you, baby."

"Mother of robots." Daddy rolled his eyes good-naturedly. He stopped. "Wait. Does that make me the dad?"

Pi whirred loudly in happiness and her momma groaned. "I guess so, daddy-o."

* * *

Her momma was missing. Daddy said he was going to find her, but what if he didn't? She wasn't allowed to go on the jet with them and now she was stuck sitting in the lab with her brother trying to calm her down. She let out a beep every now and then, but she wanted her momma back. She wanted her momma to be safe.

"Lady Pi, what if I patch you into the team's coms so you can hear what's happening? Would that make you feel better?"

Pi booped an affirmative and a light lit up on the screen she was watching that showed her momma's tracker.

"They went west. I'm only catching one set of footprints, moderately heavy. They grabbed her and moved quick," Uncle Birdy's voice said.

Daddy responded, "So, we go west."

They must have found her! Her momma was going to be safe! Pi let out a long string of beeps in excitement.

"What is that? Interference?" Her da asked in confusion. Not that he knew that he was her da yet. But she did.

"That's Pi," Daddy answered. "Calm yourself, kiddo. We'll find your mom." He paused before adding, "Dad's on it."

* * *

"At least you're not a biter," her da said as he scooped Pi into his arms.

She had been running over his foot for the past thirty minutes in an attempt to get him to take her to her momma now that she was back. She needed her momma.

"Your ma needs some sleep, though, okay?" He continued as they walked. "Gotta stay quiet for her."

They walked and walked and it made Pi happy that her da had decided to carry her because she hadn't been in the sun too much lately with how worried she had been.

"Hey. The nurse said you could have visitors."

Her momma smiled when she saw her. "Yeah," she answered breathlessly.

"This little lady wouldn't stop running over my foot until I promised to take her to her ma." Her da set her down on the side of the bed before sitting in the guest chair. Her momma picked her up and squeezed her close. "I didn't know you had a kid."

Her momma smiled and pulled back, much to her annoyance. "Yeah. Did I lose some of my appeal, Rogers?"

"Nah. I don't mind."

"Well, Tony's the dad, so have fun with that."

Her da cringed good-naturedly. "Definitely not touching that one. Get some sleep, honey. We'll still be here when you wake up."

This was all Pi wanted.

* * *

**Let me know what you thought!**

**~Grace**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**The final part - the epilogue!**

* * *

**Whatta Man**

_"What a man, what a man, what a man,_

_What a mighty good man."_

_Whatta Man – Salt-N-Pepa ft. En Vogue_

"You're telling me that you didn't…" Bucky's eyebrows wagged suggestively when Steve's ears turned pink. "You still a virgin with the girls, punk?"

The blond turned even more red as he looked anywhere but the half-naked girl in front of him on the bed.

Darcy sighed and threw her arm over her face. It was embarrassing to think that they never sealed the deal with how much she and Bucky had went at it like rabbits when she was a teenager. Once again, she had to sing the praises of birth control.

"Christ, and I thought I got deflowering you out of the way early."

Blue eyes peeked out from behind her pale arm as she felt heat spread down her chest and coil in her belly. "Can we not talk about _you_ getting some when I have still yet to get _any_?"

"You got me, baby. Multiple times, might I add," Bucky grinned salaciously, palming his bulge through the jeans that were slung low on his hips.

"But how early are we talking? Like sixteen, seventeen…"

The brunet kissed the back of Steve's red neck. "Fourteen. It was cold in Brooklyn and I had all the heat…"

Slick coated her core and she wiggled her hips impatiently. "If one of you doesn't get inside me in the next five minutes, I swear I'm going to make both of your lives a living – _oh_."

Steve was on her in a second, his tongue lapping at her silken folds and spreading her flushed labia to his gaze. His arm fitted across her hips to keep her still as he worshipped her like the goddess she was. Hungry moans escaped him as she came against his tongue, the fingers that were in his hair zapping his scalp slightly.

"Christ," he panted into the crease of her plush thigh. "God, Darce, do that again."

And she did. _Multiple_ times.

* * *

"James Buchanan Barnes, you get in here this second!"

Steve's eyes widened at the sound of Darcy's irate voice. His gaze cut to his best friend – and lover, thank goodness – and he whistled low. "Christ, what did you do, Buck? She sounds like your ma."

The brunet sighed heavily. "I thought it would be better if Stark looked at my arm instead. If it was gonna blow up, I'd rather take that loud mouth down with me instead – "

"_James_!"

"You're gonna be sleepin' on the couch for a month."

Bucky smiled. "Good thing it's pretty comfy."

* * *

"What the hell is she doing?"

Darcy's plane weaved through the towers and buildings of New York City, a cluster of aliens – _why was it always aliens?_ – following her closely.

Stark was following them, picking them off one by one and keeping a steady pace with her.

"_Leading them away from civilians_."

He grunted at Steve's voice through the com and reloaded his gun. Sometimes, he hated being a sniper instead of being on the ground, but it gave Bucky the advantage to watch the idiots he loved.

"Yeah, well, help her the funk out, you punk!"

"_What am I? Chopped liver?_"

He growled at Stark. "You will be if something happens to her."

"_Oh, cool it. I've got everything under control_," Darcy said, "_Live a little, would you?_"

"Gonna give me a damned heart attack," Bucky muttered, reloading again.

"_Awh, James, you _do_ love me._"

"Of course I do. Why else would I have a ring in my pocket?"

It was completely silent through the coms and he began to think that he shouldn't have said anything until he actually proposed. Again.

But his worry was all for not when Darcy squealed and barrel rolled in the sky happily.

Steve's voice grumbled, "_Son of a bitch._"

"Language!"

* * *

Steve was nervous. And angry. How could Bucky propose to Darcy so nonchalantly? Without talking to him? He thought they would do it together.

Hell, she had already agreed to marry Bucky once. What if she didn't want to marry _him_?

"You can brood if you want, but we both know you have a ring, too."

The blond looked up at Bucky lingering in the doorway of their kitchen. "That's not the point."

"Then what is? You know she'll say yes – "

"I just got her, okay?" He sighed. It had been nagging at the back of his mind since they all came back together. "You…you both have so much history and how can I compete with that?"

Bucky blinked. "Is she competing with you and me?"

"What? No – "

"'Cause we've known each other a lot longer than either of us has been with her. She can't compete with _our_ history."

The blond shook his head, defiance written all over his face. "She belongs with us. Time doesn't change that."

"Yeah? Well, I'm willing to bet that she agrees. The time I spent with her without you is just time, Steve. And I intend on making it up."

* * *

The apartment was surprisingly quiet. Bucky had a little sister growing up and he knew that quiet could definitely be a bad thing. Especially when his girl was always _so_ loud.

"Where's your ma?" He asked the little robot standing in front of the windows. She beeped accordingly and he looked at the ceiling for translation.

"_Miss Danvers is here for the day, Sergeant Barnes,_" the AI answered helpfully. "_I believe they were most recently in the hangar._"

"Were?"

There was a slight hesitation. "_I…they are currently trying to gauge who can fly the fastest_."

"Oh. Well, that's not too bad – "

"_Without a plane._"

"DARCY!"

* * *

Bucky was really wondering how fate managed to straddle him with two stubborn, self-sacrificing idiots.

He had damn near had a heart attack when Steve jumped out of the window of the sixty-second story of an exploding building. However, when he watched Darcy bail out of her jet – without a parachute – he was sure he had died. Completely dead. Lord, he had to start planning his own damn funeral.

So, after the city was saved and both reckless lovers wrangled, the brunet sat them both down for a well needed conversation that had been two months in the making.

Darcy stared at him petulantly, her lower lip caught between her teeth. "I didn't get hurt – "

Steve turned his head and gaped at her. "You broke your wrist! And _still_ fought – "

"Yeah, well, you tackled a fucking monster, so – "

"Enough!" Bucky yelled, startling them both. He had really tried to keep his cool, but they knew how to test him. Taking a deep breath, he said, "You both are idiots. One more than the other."

Darcy smiled viciously and batted her eyelashes at the blond. "See? I told you – "

"_You_, Darcy," Bucky continued, glaring at her when she squawked. "You should know better!"

"So should he!" She whined in defense. "He's like a hundred!"

"Yeah, well, you're pregnant!"

There was a deathly silence that took over the apartment. The petite brunette's face visibly shuttered and she looked down. Steve looked just as pained, his own expression feeding off of hers.

"Buck…" his voice trailed off.

"What? She skipped her courses, you dope. Don't tell me you didn't notice."

Their girl looked up and she shrugged. "I don't age. I can't really have kids if my body can't change, right?"

"But your courses – "

"We've been a little stressed lately. That can change things."

"But…"

Bucky had been so sure! They had rarely used condoms, but she was on the pill. He knew it was a long shot, but with two men _shooting_, he figured it increased their chances. He must've missed it when she stood because suddenly there was a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry," she whispered, "I'm disappointed in me, too."

* * *

The week following 'the talk' was tense to say the least.

Darcy stayed holed up with Pi in the hangar and the boys weren't allowed inside. They only saw her in the early morning if they managed to get up before she did.

Darcy had been upset, rightfully so, and she didn't know how she wanted to handle the fallout. Or if she even wanted to. She was very good at avoiding, after all.

"What do you think, baby?" Darcy asked her little bot. "Think I should forgive your daddies?"

Pi made a loud string of beeps which JARVIS promptly interpreted.

"_While Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes are Lady Pi's adoptive fathers, she only sees Sir as being her…daddy._"

She giggled and scooped the bot into her arms.

"Okay, okay. Tony can be your daddy. He takes good care of you, huh? Y'know, I thought about making you a sibling – ouch!"

Pi erupted into an angry scream of beeps and Darcy needed no translation.

"Fine! You can be an only child."

* * *

"It's not impossible," Dr. Ross explained, her glasses sliding down her nose as she looked at the test results. "It's just improbable. It's true that the core keeps you from aging – just as the serum does with Steve and James – but it doesn't keep you from changing. Hypothetically, you could have a very healthy pregnancy."

"But?" Darcy hedged.

The brunette had been very against seeing the doctor if only it kept her from getting her hopes up. Having a child, a flesh and blood child, was something she and James used to dream about before she had been snatched. And Steve was just happy to have her exactly how she was.

_ "Someday, we'll have it all."_

_ Darcy looked up at the edge of his jaw and snuggled closer under his right arm. "All?"_

_ The sky was so pretty. They weren't supposed to lay on the landing strip, but it was the only place on base that had the best view of the stars and it was far enough away from all the lights. They could truly be alone. With the crickets, anyway. _

_ "The house in the country, the cat, the kids. We'll have it all, baby." He glanced down at her and smiled. "You deserve it. You deserve to be happy and safe."_

_ "You want kids with me?"_

_ They hadn't really talked about it before. She never talked about her shitty childhood and he was vague about his own, so it never came up. But she wasn't opposed to it._

_ "A couple if you'll have me."_

_ She giggled. "Of course I want kids with you, you goof! Ugh, can you imagine how beautiful they'd be?" She sighed dreamily, visions of little bundles in her head. "Big blue eyes and dark hair. Maybe they'll be pale like me or maybe they'll be darker like you – "_

_ "If the girls are half as pretty as their ma, I'll have to beat the boys off with a stick."_

_ "Somehow I don't doubt that." _

"But," Dr. Ross echoed, drawing her out of her memory. "It's just that – hypothetical. If they aren't sterile, it could happen without birth control. All your parts are in working order."

"Sterile?"

The doctor gave a sad smiled. "We have no record of the effects of the serum. Or what HYDRA did to James. It would be wise to have them tested as well."

* * *

"We don't need kids."

Bucky looked up from the punching bag he was attempting to demolish and huffed. "I know that."

And he did. He _really_ did. But she deserved the white picket fence, a couple babies, a dog. Maybe even that cat that Fury had kept. Darcy deserved it all after what she had been through and he wanted to be the one to give it to her.

He had promised her.

"Then why are you acting like this?" Steve asked. It was clear that he was exasperated and he wanted things to go back to how they were when they were just Steve, Bucky, Darcy, and Pi. Sometimes Goose. When everything was happy.

"Don't you look at her and want to give her the world, Stevie? Like you could get lost in those big blue eyes?"

"Yeah – "

"They how do you not understand where I'm comin' from?" The brunet asked harshly. "She had so much taken from her and I want her to have whatever normal people do – "

"That's the problem. She's not normal. _We're_ not normal." Steve shook his head and held the bag still. "Did you ever think that she didn't bring up kids because she doesn't want 'em? We've got Pi. We've got a kid that's never gonna get old, never leave us. She'll be with us as long as we're all together. Isn't that enough?"

Bucky never really thought of it that way. None of them were aging. They had, literally, all the time in the world.

"But…we have to share our kid with Stark."

"It's worth it."

* * *

"I want to legally adopt Pi."

Darcy blinked. "What?"

"Well, Tony's her dad and – "

"No, I got that part, I was just wondering why you wanted to adopt her _again_."

"Again?" Bucky parroted.

"Yeah. When we 'bonded', Pepper put through the paperwork – where are you going?"

* * *

Bucky stared at the little bot with a smile on his face. He _was_ a dad! An adoptive one, but it still counted.

"So, I'm your dad, right?"

She beeped and he glanced at the ceiling.

"_You are her pa. Captain Rogers is her da,_" JARVIS explained, pausing when Pi booped again. "_And Sir is her daddy._"

The brunet grinned wider. "Yeah? I'm your Pa, Pi-baby?"

Pi whirred happily when he picked her up and carried her away.

* * *

There was blood everywhere.

The controls of the jet, the seat. Hell, even the window had smears of blood. Who knew that head wounds bled so much? Certainly not Darcy.

A bullet had shattered her window and a piece of glass made a deep cut above her eyebrow. Oh, and she barrel rolled.

Whipping off her goggles, she grunted at the exertion of keeping the jet steady. This time, it wasn't aliens or robots, rather a splinter cell of HYDRA that hadn't went quietly when she had killed Pierce.

And, boy, was Bucky pissed.

"_I'm gonna kill all these sons of bitches_," he growled through her radio. "_Lou, talk to me, baby, are you okay_?"

She sighed and opened fire on another jet. "Just a flesh wound, babe. I'm fine."

There was a snort and she just knew it was Tony.

"_How about you lovebirds focus on the task at hand_?" Fury rumbled. "_Like taking down all these motherfuckers._"

"You got it, Nicky."

* * *

Steve collapsed on the couch, his grunt of happiness echoing between the trio.

Debriefing had been a bitch, but they managed. They always did.

"So…when are we finally going to retire?" He asked jokingly.

Darcy wiggled her toes in her combat boots as she closed her eyes. "Give me a few years. I want to make sure the world won't explode."

It was so quiet that she cracked open an eyelid to see if they had fallen asleep, only to see two pairs of blue eyes looking at her in shock.

"You – you mean it?"

She grinned widely. "I do."

It took ten more years before any of them decided to put in their official resignation, but they still arrived when the world called on them for help.

And they always would.

Because Darcy Lewis, Bucky Barnes, and Steve Rogers were Avengers and Avengers didn't run when the world tested them.

She was proof of that. Nearly fifty-five years had passed since she was born, but she didn't look a day over eighteen and she never would.

Darcy had a purpose. She had a family. And she _belonged_.

* * *

**Let me know what you thought!**

**See ya on the flipside!**

**~Grace**


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